New Year Tricks
by Carbonated Angel
Summary: A trick to bind two unknowing people, and a chaotic vacation to find the cure...as well as a new discovery: maybe cloth snakes aren't as useless as they seem... {(Chapter eight: 'Don't worry, Izumi...your feelings will be returned...in a matter of time)}
1. The Festival

It was nearing the end of January, with the year 2004 having started. Everyone was back in school, for their final exams , it was the third grading period. The chinese, however, were still going to celebrate their new year, which depended on the position of the stars, or moon. (I really don't know).

It was the 31st of January, and a Saturday too. Izumi Orimoto was just fixing her papers and stuff, when the doorbell rang. Flustered, the fourteen-year old dropped all that she was holding, and ran to the door. It was Takuya and Tommy.

"hey guys!" greeted Izumi, smiling. "what are you doing here?"she asked.

"weelll, its Chinese new year!" said Tommy.

"and we were wondering if you wanted to go to the parade." Finished Takuya. 

Izumi's eyes widened. 

"Parade? Sure! When? Where?" she asked.

"its going to start at five, today..on the avenue three streets away from here." Replied the goggle-boy. Izumi nodded. 

"right. See you guys there, then!" she smiled and closed the door. 

4:30 pm

Izumi put on her hat and a jacket, and walked out into the late afternoon. She could already hear the drums and the fireworks from where she was. The teenager walked all the way to the place where the parade was supposed to be. There was a fairly large crowd there, and Izumi was surprised at the number of chinese people present. She scanned the crowd for Takuya and Tommy, but she did'nt find them. The italian girl shrugged it off, and ducked into a nearby shop.

She found Takuya and Tommy there. And Junpei and Kouji. Izumi raised an eyebrow. 'what a coincidence' she muttered.the shop was small, and apparently, chinese. Pottery was found on shelves, and also food. There were severeal books about ancient china, and some postcards of the great wall. Takuya was admiring a dragon-sword, while Junpei was eyeing the mooncakes. Tommy was looking at a box full of something, and Kouji was there, partly staring at the wall, and partly looking at a blue lotus vase. 

Izumi walked over to Tommy, to see what he was looking at. 

"hey Tommy, what's that?" she asked.

Tommy smiled gleefully and pointed to the box, which was full of thousands of timy garter snakes. Izumi nearly screamed at the sight. Seeing the expression on her face, the owner of the shop, an elderly chinese man, calmly walked over, and took one timy reptile from the box. he put it on Izumi's wrist, where it wrapped itself gently. Izumi's eyes widened in fear. Junpei saw this and demanded what was wrong, angrily eyeing the old man. The shop owner just shrugged. 

"its harmless. Made of special elastic cloth." He began stroking the snake's cloth head. 

"nothing to be afraid of."

"but-it-moved."

"like I said, special elastic cloth. From china."

Hearing this, izumi let out a deep breath, and felt better. 

"thank you, sir." She handed him some money. He nodded and took it. 

Takuya was finally getting tired of looking at the sword. "come on, guys, lets see the festival!" he shouted, pointing to the outside. 

Sure enough, the festival was starting. There were acrobats, and jugglers, and a fantastic display of fireworks. Takuya dragged his friends outside, and they sat at an empty table, which had been put there for viewing purposes. 

"wow, look at the size of that dragon!" said Tommy, pointing to the big red mascot, which had several people running under it. 

"and the acrobats, too" sighed Junpei. "they're so agile and-"

"thin?" snickered Takuya. 

"what?"

"thin. Unlike you, of course." He repeated. 

"hey, im losing weight, okay?" retaliated Junpei.

"hard to believe" chuckled Takuya.

"take that back, goggle freak!" said an angry Junpei.

"not in a million years!" replied Takuya, getting ready to run.

Junpei chased him around the street, and Tommy laughed at the two.

"look at them go!" he said.

Izumi smiled and nodded, but Kouji did'nt care to give his opinion.

'fools.' He thought. 

Then, a fat guy pushing a food cart came along. "good evening, gentleman and lady." He said, twirling his moustache. "care for some dimsum?"

"ooh! I want some Dimsum!" said izumi,, reaching for her bag.

"me too!" chorused Tommy, getting some money from his pocket.

While reaching for her bag, izumi's wrist, with the cloth snake on, accidentally brushed against Kouji's wrist. The thing suddenly twisted around Kouji's wrist, and wrapped itself firmly around it. Izumi got her bag, and walked over to the dimsum man. Kouji felt some force on his wrist, and before he knew it, he was being dragged along by Izumi, to the dimsum guy. 

"what the-? Izumi! I don't want dimsum!" he said, trying to walk back to his chair.

"what? Im not asking!" said Izumi, tugging at her arm.

Then they both saw the elastic cloth, and soon realized what was going on. 

Ten minutes later.

Izumi bit at her dimsum, a bit too forcibly. Takuuya and Junpei were back, after running about a mile. It was five-thirty, and aftere watching some of the parade, everyone decided to sit down and eat. The plump one saw Izumi tearing up her food, and knew that something was wrong. "Izumi what's wrong?"

Izumi did'nt reply, and instead put up her wrist to show everyone. Of course, kouji's wrist got pulled up also, while he was eating some congee. "what?" the boy asked sharply.

Junpei's eyes widened, then, after a moment, a smirk replaced his surprised expression. 

"so, you guys are…"

"no!" cut off Kouji, before Junpei could say anything.

"are what? What Junpei?" asked Izumi, irritably.

Junpei shrugged it off. 

"Nothing."

Izumi sighed. "anyway, the stupid clooth snake-thing that the chinese guy sold to me..it got wrapped around Kouji;s wrist too---and it won't get off!" she banged her fist on the table.

"hey! Watch it! I'm eating here!" complained kouji, glaring at the one who dared to interrupt his meal.

"so---ree bandanna-brain! I was just trying to enjoy a parade when—"

"when what? Was it my fault that you abought that thiing in the first place? No. so its no use arguing about it!"

Izumi looked down, an angry look on her face.

"fine." She muttered.

They seemed to enjoy the rest of the festival,and the parade. There were little red lanterns everywhere, and delightful acrobats doing tricks. There was even a girl acrobat, who was about their age. She had long black hair, tied up into a ponytail. Takuya watched as she danced gracefully in midair, with the help of her brothers, a pair of older twins.

Junpei nudged the guy in the ribs.

"what?"

"you like her."

"huh?"

"don't play dumb with me, goggle-head. I know you like her,"

"so…what if I do?"

"if you do, then I know one of your darkest secrets ever."

"what good would that do?"

"she's the new student at Shibuya. Your class. My classmate's little sister."

Gulp.

"Junpei!"

the fat one enjoyed his revenge. Takuya was squirming unncomfortably, now. Tommy was watching, amused, as Kouji tried to wriggle his wrist free of the 'special elastic clolth snake' brought especially from china. But to no avail. Izumi looked distraught. The stupid thing would'nt get off.

"why me?" she lamented, as Kouji glared at her.

Tommy surpressed a grin. "why don't you guys try this?" he asked, flicking his pocketknife.

In a quick movement, he tried to tear the cloth snake with the sharp blade.

Instead of cutting the cloth, the blade just bounced back.

"WHAT!?" exclaimed Kouji, watching in disbelief.

"hm. Strange. I guess it did'nt work," mused Tommy, putting the knife back in his pocket. 

"argh! Its almost six-thirty!" said izumi, checking her watch.

"why? what time do you need to be home, anyway?" asked Takuya.

"seven."

"great. We have half an hour to get this thing off. Now what?" said Tommy, crossing his arms.

Everyone looked at Kouji, who had a seriously annoyed look on his face.

He heaved a sigh.

"well, maybe we can find the guy who sold this thing to Izumi. He probably knows how to get it off." He glanced at the cloth snake, still tightly wrapped around their wrists.

Izumi blinked.

"okay, lets go."

The shop

Kouji banged on the glass windows, while Takuya investigated the back. Izumi waited beside Kouji, since her wrist was attacked to his, waiting for him to finish banging. 

"its closed." Repoted Takuya.

"at this time?" izumi crossed her arms, making kouji reach over. He accidentally tripped on a nearby rock, and they both fell on the ground, in a heap.

"oops, sorry." Said Izumi, picking herslef up and blushing at the same time.

"right." Said Kouji, dusting himself off. It was a good thing that he had learned to mask his emotions, or else Takuya would have found out…

nine pm, Orimoto residence.

Alas, Takuya and company had failed in getting the thing off Kouji and izumi's wrists. This landed them at izumi's house. Only her dad was home, cooking dinner. He invited them to take part in the meal, and they did. Then they tried to get the annoying cloth snake off.

Trial 1

"Okay, people.. HERE I COME!!!!" Takuya ran at Kouji and Izumi, who put their wrists up. Takuya was holding a broomstick, and was ready to strike.

"hayaaaa!"

'crack!' Mr.Orimoto watched, wide-eyed, as the broom's hadle cracked in two.

"amazing!" he muttered.

Trial 2

"simple." Said Junpei. "I've been training for months now, and I think one of my powerful karate moves will easily snap this weak cloth int two!"

he raised an arm in mid-air, then he struck.

"yaaaa!"

"snap!"

Izumi opened her eyes, expecting to see the cloth snapped in two. Instead, she saw Junpei, on the floor, with a broken arm. Mr. Orimoto, who was a doctor, quickly out the injured arm into a sling.

Trial 3

Tommy lit a match, as Junpei whimpered in a corner, nursing his arm. "careful tommy" warned Mr. Orimoto. "you may burn yourself." Tommy nodded, and put the flame to the cloth. It caught fire, then Izumi freaked out. 

"ahhh! It burns!!" she shrieked, trying to put the fire out.

"Izumi! It hasn't touched you!" said Kouji, trying to calm her down, on account of his arm nearly being pulled off by the girl.

Because of Izumi's antics, the flame caught Kouji's bandanna, which set fire to his hair.

"ahhhh! Izumi!!! DO SOMETHING!!!!" He yelled, trying to put out the flame as best as he could. Izumi acted quickly, and grabbed her dad's coffee mug, and drenched Kouji with the dark brown liquid.

"my bandanna!" lamented Kouji.

"my coffee!" said Mr. Orimoto, looking at his empty mug.

"my arm!" whimpered Junpei.

"MY GOODNESS!" said a voice.

They all whirled around to see a very upset mrs. Orimoto, standing at the front door. 

"what in the world are you doing?!" she demanded, looking at the broken broom, the whimpering Junpei, and Kouji drenched in coffee.

Takuya pointed at Izumi and Kouji, who raised their wrists.

"oh my." Said Mrs. Orimoto, surveying the damage.

She checked her watch. It was eleven thirty.

"I can't sleep with Kouji attached to my wrist!" said Izumi.

Kouji sighed. "looks like wont be taking a bath for a while now." He muttered. Takuya laughed evilly. "looks like you two will be stuck for life. Wait till Kouichi hears this!" 

Kouji narrowed his eyes. "kanabara, don't you dare tell Kouichi, or ill—"

"tell me what?" asked a voice.

Mr. Orimoto turned around, to see Kouji's twin at the door, with his friend Hannah.

"too late" said izumi, putting a hand to her head.

"hi everybody!" greeted kouichi.

"hi Kouichi" said Izumi glumly.

"I'm here to pick Kouji up, our dad's worried sick…" he said, looking at the cloth snake.

"but" said Hannah "it looks like he won't be going home with you, Kouichi"

Junpei suddenly got off the floor, and began ranting.

"why? why does destiny hate me and love Minamoto? Am I at fault here? Why does he get to be stuck to izumi? Why not me?" he mumbled.

Kouji threw a dirty look at Junpei. "do you see me happy? Huh, chubs?" he asked icily. Izumi frowned at him. "oh come on, kouji. Don't start now. After all, it isnt his fault."

"whatever" was the reply.

"okay, guys. You can calm down now." Said Mrs. Orimoto.

"as you know, Mr. Orimoto and I are due for a trip to canada in two days. It is up to you people to detach Kouji and izumi from each other."

A/n: I don't own anything!!! Review, please!

I wont update for a looong while… and if the plot is like yours, I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO DO WITH IT!!! PROMISE!!! 

Hannah:calm down, you're going to hurt youself!

Me: pity.


	2. Night into Day

Takuya mumbled something to himself about nasty teachers, while flipping through a 2200-page history textbook. The four friends were sitting near the steps, leading to the entrance of Shibuya high. It was 4:10, and thirty- seven seconds, precisely thirty-seven seonds after dismissal. The slender, dove-white hands gripped the purple brush handle, as Izumi ran the bristles through her long blond hair. The grey clouds rolled lazily overhead, as the afternoon dragged on. Everywhere, students filed out of the big glass doors. Imaptient schoolbus drivers honked irritably, as teenageres hurried to the bright yellow doors. Teachers exchanged banter over cups of coffee, after signing out of work. Kouji flipped nonchalantly through an old sports magazine, while Tommy concentrated hard on beating the high score in a game installed in his cellphone. Junpei was rapidly scribbling down notes copied from a book he had borrowed from the library. Only the Lord knew why he was diong his homework so early.  
  
Kouji sighed as he saw his brother exit the school, closely followed by his two best friends, Hannah and James. The five friends only knew the former so well, the latter being a virtual strangere to them. Kouji eyed his twin warily, as Kouichi walked towards the portion of the steps they were sitting on. The blue bag dropped with a thud, as Kimura Kouichi sat down beside his younger twin, Kouji. Four heads looked up at the noise, to be greeted by Kouichi's smiling face. "hey guys!" he said cheerfully. "hi Kouichi." Said Takuya, turning some pages on his book. "hey man." Sighed Junpei, putting down his notebook. Izumi nodded. "lookes like somebody's in a good mood today." Kouji said, as he raised an eyebrow. Hannah immediately responded to this. She was, as those who have read 'da christmas party' know, a semi-annoying person, with a deep passion for taking pictures on her trusty digicam. She shoved her short, brown and messy locks out of her face, as hazel eyes danced with delight underneath. "Kouchi in love! Kouichi's in love!" she said, smiling. Whatever happy expression was painted on Kouchi's face was now erased in a matter of nanoseconds. His eye twitched slightly. "hannah. Why in the world did you have to announce what you just announced?" Kouichi was distraught. The girl shugged causally. "hey, that's what girl best friends are for." Takuya's eyes widened. "come on! You're not serious!" "yes he is, Taki." Said Izumi. "its hard to believe that some girl would actualy like a freak show like Kouichi.." muttered kouji, who immediately recieved a whack on the head from his brother. "ouch! what was that for?!" "for your incredible talent in ruining people's days." Retorted kouichi. "my specialty." Another whack. "I deserved that." "right, you did." James, who had not spoken until now, raised a thought. "sooo.how was your day?"  
  
Kouji and izumi, bound together by the courtesy of a certain chinese merchant, looked at each other, with agony wtitten all over their faces. If there was ever a story meant to be long and chaotic, this was it. Takuya was the first to speak. "well. it began like this."  
  
first bell. The air was still chilly with the remnants of winter, but, spring was in the air. Already, the first buds of green were showing, in what used to be naked trees. Birds were chirping happily, as they anticipated the swarm of insects coming to greet them in a few days. Unfortunately, five students, on their way to school didn't notice this..  
  
Izumi's cheeks were rosy pink, from running all the way from her house. She was nearly out of breath, and the fact that Kouji was faster, and dragging her along, wasn't very encouraging. All three of her guy friends had slept at her house the previous night, on sleeping bags her dad had set out on the living room floor. Izumi herself had to sleep there, due to the fact that she was attached to a certain Kouji Minamoto. And I mean literally.  
  
The boy was ahead, the cold air and fast pace not affecting him. He fixed his bandanna with his free hand, as they ran to school. It was six-fifty eight, and class started at seven. Knowing mrs. Akiyama, she was never late, and would not like it if her students were. The boy frowned to himself as Takuya, despite the close situation, began whistling an annoying tune. Man, that goggle head could be frustrating, but he did come in handy when ceratain situations occurred, like the one last night.  
  
"goodnight, guys." Whispered Mr. Orimoto, turning out the living room light. It had been January 31st, year of the monkey. Oh yes, and an old monkey was certainly mokeying in their affairs. A few seconds after the light went out, everyone dozed off, as calmness settled in the dark living room. Junpei was snoring from time to time. Takuya slept in between the fat one and Tommy. Tommy was placed beside Izumi, tightly hugging a stuffed bear. Only Kouji, wrist tied firmly to Izumi's own, lay wide awake, staring at the ceiling. "what a day." His voice was barely more than a whisper. Kouji began to think back to the festival, how he had gotten into this mess.  
  
A fat guy pushing a food cart came along. "Good evening, gentleman and lady." He said, twirling his moustache. "Care for some dimsum?" "Ooh! I want some Dimsum!" said Izumi, reaching for her bag. "Me too!" chorused Tommy, getting some money from his pocket. While reaching for her bag, Izumi's wrist, with the cloth snake on, accidentally brushed against Kouji's wrist. The thing suddenly twisted around Kouji's wrist, and wrapped itself firmly around it. Izumi got her bag, and walked over to the dimsum man. Kouji felt some force on his wrist, and before he knew it, Izumi was dragging him along, to the dimsum guy. "What the-? Izumi! I don't want dimsum!" he said, trying to walk back to his chair. "What? I'm not asking!" said Izumi, tugging at her arm. Then they both saw the elastic cloth, and soon realised what was going on.  
  
Kouji sighed, then a mumble interrupted his reverie. The loner looked up, to see Takuya turning and tossing in his sleeping bag. Apparently, the guy talked in his sleep. Kouji chuckled quietly to himself. He was going to enjoy this. "Kirschey.pretty nice soccer playing..ZzzZZzz" Takuya had a smile painted on his face, as he hugged his pillow tighter. Kouji wondered at this. "Kirschey? Who's she?" his questions were soon answered by the sleeping Takuya, however. "pretty, athletic, acrobat.Kirschey." murmured the guy. "oooh." Was all that Kouji could think of. Then, unnexpectedly, Takuya sat up rapidly, forming his hand into a gun. Eyes closed, he then pointed it at Kouji, who raised his arms in mock surrender. Immediately, Izumi's arm was also pulled up, her head barely touching Kouji's shoulder. Takuya had a frown on his face, which made kouji wonder if he was awake or asleep. "Die, Junpei!!!" screamed the goggle head. Then, as if nothing happened, he fell back onto his sleeping bag, and began snoring. "whew. That was close." Murmured kouji. Then, he felt a slight weight on his shoulder, and looked down to see Izumi's head resting gently on it. "Aish. Look what Takuya got me into." he mumbled, gently pushing Izumi's head back onto her own pillow, which was definitely not going to be his shoulder.  
  
Tommy's voice interrupted his thoughts. "hey! I think were going to make it!" Exhausted, four friends stopped for a moment in front of the glass doors, to catch their breath and regain their composure. The time was six-fifty nine and fifteen seconds. That left them forty-five seconds to run to their respective classrooms. "run!" shouted Takuya, checking his watch. The goggle head dashed frantically to room 301, Mrs. Akiyama's homeroom. Izumi followed, with Kouji behind her. They entered the room, just as second bell rang. Students were already there, talking noisily, and throwing junk around. Some girls at the back giggled as they saw Kouji and Takuya. Both guys ignored them. Then, Mrs. Akiyama came in. "students. Sit!" she ordered firmly, sending all who dared to defy her, cold glares. When all twenty-nine students were at their desks, their Adviser, with flaming orange hair, motioned in the direction of the door, as if to let someone in. In his seat, Takuya had mixed feelings of dread and eagerness. He already knew who it was going to be.  
  
A girl, of medium height and build came inside. She had long black hair streaming, untamed from her head. Her skin was fair, and she had enchanting blue eyes, that seemed to burst with energy. Mrs. Akiyama out a hand on her shoulder. "class. I am proud to introduce to you, Miss Kirschey (pronounced ker- shee) Kuniyoshi, a new student here at Shibuya." Takuya gulped, as he tried to evade smirking glances from Kouji. She was just as he remembered her. Energetic, atletic, and sort of wild. "hi everyone! I'm Kirschey. I lived in China for a short while, then transferred here to Japan. My dad's from around here..i guess. Anyways, I like anything that has to do with extreme sports. Skydiving is my fave pastime!" She smiled happily. Takuya was already in dreamland. "thank you, miss Kuniyoshi." Said Mrs. Akiyama. The teacher then turned her gaze to a dazed Takuya. "Kanabara, were you listening?!" immediately, the spotlight was turned on the unfortunate goggle-head. "uh... yes--- mrs. Akiyama I was." "good. Now, back to the lessons for the third quarter." Takuya relaxed in his seat. He caught a look from Izumi. Already, he knew what she was saying. 'yeah right, Taki. Eveyone knows you were'nt listening. Just dreaming about the new girl.' Well, he was. Right?  
  
It was an awkward situation for Kouji at this time. Sure, izumi was his good friend, and she wasn't repulsive, like some other girls in this class. But-his stomach, for some strange reason, gave an unintended lurch, every time she displayed any sign of great affection to him. Like in the christmas party. ah, but that was another story. the stomach feeling just got worse, now that she was sort of chained to him. Kouji could'nt help but feel a little glad at this twist of fate, since Izumi helped keep all those raving mad girls away from him. Good riddance.  
  
Another story it was, for Izumi. She had to fend of a million glares aimed at her by twelve of the fourteen other girls in class. She knew, and so did the rest of the world, that their hearts were either set on Kouji or Kouichi, or even Takuya for that matter. The italian girl knew all too well that Kouichi and Takuya were now eliminated from the list of eligible cute boys in 301. And who was left? Kouji. The girl really didn't know what Kouji thought of her. He sure acted like he was pretty annoyed with the prospect of being tied to her with a snake. And a cloth one, at that. She sighed. But, hey. What's done is done, right?  
  
The physical education teacher was known throughout the school as a military kick-out. Her name: former private Elena van Harder. This lady was not one to be messed with, especially when it came to strict rules. Publicly, she was known as Ma'am Harder. Secretly as Ma'am makes-your -life Harder. Her reputation was stained with blood, pain, and crying students. That, like many of the things said about her, was extaggerated.  
  
The new lesson for the third quarter was swimming, a sport dreaded by many and loved by most. The PhysEd teacher implemented a whole sixty pages of rules and regulations. Too bad they did'nt apply to Kouji and Izumi. "minamoto! Orimoto! What do you think you mange-infested students are doing?!" Ms. Harder's voice could be heard throughout the whole gym. "er, ma'am Harder? We have a situation." said Izumi, raising her wrist. The woman looked at the clooth snake, eyeing it carefully, then aimed a well-performed karate chop at the thing. As expected, the snake did not snap, and another newly-risen hope was dashed to pieces. "well." Said Kouji, "I guess we won't be swimming, huh?" Izumi nodded. "oh yes you will." Growled Ms. Harder. Kouji raised his wrist and Izumi's, as if making the point clear. "WE ARE STUCK TOGETHER, ms. Harder, does that register in your peanut-sized brain?" asked Kouji. The woman nodded, ignoring the insult. "go, both of you. Change." She ordered, pointing to the locker rooms.  
  
Now, this was an awkward situation for both Kouji and Izumi. You see, if Izumi had dragged Kouji into the girl's locker room, every female within a ten-mile radius above twelve and under twenty, would scream and hound poor Kouji, showering him with unwanted attention. If Kouji, on the other hand, in desperation to actually HAVE a p.e. grade, managed to drag Izumi into the guy's locker room, every boy who considered his manhood precious, would bolt. Including Takuya.  
  
In the end, (sorry for not including details.hehe) let us just assume that both Kouji and Izumi did manage to change into swimming attire, and attain a decent grade for swimming. Both secretly regretted and rejoiced at being able to have done this. But that, I do not know about.  
  
"people! freestyle! Orimoto, Minamoto, figure out how to do it without getting your arms broken!" The big stocky woman barked into the loudspeaker, quite annoyingly. The students, who were tortured with swimming with her as the teacher, just writhed in bitter agony. "glub..bah!" Izumi spat out a mouthful of chlorine filled water, right into Kouji's face. "sorry." "right." "okay.. lets do freestyle, then." "right." "soo, we bend our arms like this, so that bones won't be twisted." "right." "can't you say any word other than 'right?'" "sorry." "right.hey!..nevermind.." "so we bend our arms like this. then what?" "you figure it out." "hey, this is your PE grade too, you know." "so?" "so if you don't help US out in freestyle, you won't get a high grade." "since when did you start caring about my grades?" "I-"  
  
Izumi knew it. She had caught him WAY off guard.  
  
Takuya watched amusedly as his unfortunate friends tried to figure out how to do freestyle, the three-armed way. He chuckled to himself, but then was interrupted by a tap on his shoulder. The brown-haired fourteen-year old turned to face Kirschey, who was smiling at him. "Those were some fast moves you pulled back, there.uh." "Takuya." "Takuya" she repeated, letting the name write itself into her memory. "yeah." "anyway, I was really impressed at your speed. Three laps in fifteen seconds?" "come on, I'm not that fast.really.." blushing, Takuya put a hand bahind his head and laughed nervously. "could you teach me, or something?" asked Kirschey, making his heart leap. "sure!" "okay.." "you bend your foot like this."  
  
Izumi's head was immersed in pool water. She was having a hard time swimming. There was the notion, that, Kouji would have done the freestyle faster, had they not been stuck together. Inside, she felt sort of guilty for not being a better swimmer, but.some things could not be helped.  
  
"..so, that's pretty much what happened in school today." Finished Takuya. It was almost five, and they were walking back to Izumi's house, with the twins, Izumi, Hannah, and James. They were nearing the Orimoto residence, when someone grabbed Takuuya by the shirt and dragged him into some bushes.  
  
"what?!" snapped Takuya, irritably, seeing that it was Junpei. "shhh. Mrs. Orimoto hired Tommy and I to make both Izumi and Kouji take a bath." "what?! you perverts!" "no! its not that.Mrs. Orimoto has a plan. Just make sure they go to the back yard NOW!" "okay, okay, geez.man, you gotta brush you teeth more offten." "Just shut up and do it!" "fine!" Takuya walked away, muttering "fatso".  
  
He immediately caught up with Kouji and Izumi, who were about to enter through the front door. "hey, guys, let's check out the back yard!" he said, in a fake excited tone. "what? You can't be serious, Taki." Said izumi, turning the knob. "yeah, I mean, what is so interesting about izumi's back yard?" asked Kouji. "something. Just come on." Insisted Takuya, dragging the two.  
  
Kouji wondered why Takuya was acting so weird today. 'maybe its Kirschey.' he thought, letting a thousand more possibilities run through his mind. 'what in the world is so interesting about the stupid back yard?!' his thoughts were soon to be answered. The sight that greeted them was enough to make the three teenagers, plus Kouichi and pals, bolt at a speed of 300 kph. There was Mrs. Orimoto, dressed in beach shorts,and a sleeveless white tank top, holding the BIGGEST, most dangerous-looking garden hose that money could buy. And she was aiming it at the two (you know who they are), with a devilish but motherly gleam in her eyes. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!" both Kouji and Izumi knew that they should have dialled 911 and escape to the nearest mental hospital as soon as possible. But they weren't quick enough. No sooner had the last 'H' in their scream ended, when a blast of ice-cold water came out from the hose. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------  
  
author's note: Artemis: hello!! I am very happy that you guys liked the plot. Really, it doesn't take much to some up with a simple story that is different from the others. I thank all those who reviewed my first chapter, and here they are: LavanderRumiro, Zephyrmon9, LunaOpAznG3, chibi minamoto, Izumi-Star, xxAnime.Angelxx, and Protoblues. To you guys.. THANK YOU!!! I was flattered speechless when you said you liked it so much [hands out little cloth snakes to everyone] use them well! Again, I don't think I will be posting for quite a while, I updated sooner than I had expected.but then again, for the other chappies, you never know.. I decided to look for a new plot, after reading a Kouzumi. I really got sick at seeing all the plagarism occuring in this section. I hope authors will come to their senses, and that it will clear out soon. Although I don't watch digimon often, (my hectic schedule forbids it) I am a Ryuki fan. See ya soon peeps!! ;-)  
  
Err. if you see my evil younger sis around, (her name is ebony, thus the penname) please notify me. She is an evil obnoxious brat, being hunted down by the FBI. Thankies!  
  
Disclaimer: I have not, do not, will not own Digimon, Disney, Level-Up games, Microsoft, Machintosh, nestle or IBM. (although I would certainly like to) bye!  
  
Kouji: get on with it, person!!! Seriously, I NEED TO GET THIS THING OFF NOW!!! Artemis: patience, o agonised wolf. You will get your freedom, or your money back. Izumi: huh? But he didn't pay you anything. Artemis: my point exactly. He will get his freedom, or nothing at all. Kouji: again, I lament: why me? 


	3. We travel Forth

****

New Year Tricks by: Artemis

Chapter three: The Trip

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!"

No sooner had the last 'h' in their scream ended, when a blast of ice-cold water came out from the hose.

~~2 minutes later~~

A cheery Mrs. Orimoto was washing the dishes in the kitchen. She hummed a tune as the suds in the sink floated around. It was about five thirty in the late afternoon, and the plump, kind-faced woman was due for a trip to Canada, with her husband, the next day. Ah, Canada, a place where she could relax whilst her huhspand went to business meetings, where she could get away from her daughter and her friends… 

A burst of laughter erupted from the living room, reminding the mother of who exactly were lounging about in her house. 

****

The Living Room.

Izumi shivered as she tried to untangle her wet, knotted hair with a brush. Her kind mother had oh-so-generously splayed Kouji and herself with a blast of cold water from the garden hose a few minutes ago. Some bath. Kouichi and his friends were visiting after school, and it didn't help that Hannah was taking a picture a minute, with her digicam. The girl wrapped the lavender towel tighter around her body, as she tried to ignore her present situation, and focus more on Takuya's hopelessly corny jokes. Suddenly, a message tone was heard ringing, along with a cellphone's vibration, and Kouichi flipped his tiny device open. He read the message aloud. It was from Mrs. Akiyama.

****

'Dear students,

Unfortunately, our dear principal, Mr. Wasabe, has been hospitalized due to a heart attack. He is recovering, in the hospital at this moment, and, in his kindness, has cancelled school for three weeks. Please pray that his condition will improve.

Mrs. Akiyama'

"Oh yes!" exclaimed James, a little too enthusiastically.

Kouichi's eyes widened.

"No school? Three weeks? Did our school principal have amnesia, or something?" 

Kouichi was right to doubt the message. This fact was hardly believable, considering that the tyrant-principal, Mr. Wasabe, seemed to be the most ill tempered human being on the face of this planet. Was he actually giving them three weeks off? 

Tommy nodded happily.

"Cool, isn't it?" He asked, his bangs nearly covering his eyes.

Izumi nodded, already imagining those wonderful days she could spend, doing nothing.

"I think I enjoy Wasabe more when he's sick." Agreed a drenched Kouji, wrapping a blue towel around himself. He then gave a slight smile, despite his present condition. This, of course, shocked everyone a good bit, since the loner never smiled, except on rare occasions, such as these. The event was so phenomenal, that the amateur photographer even snapped a picture of Kouji. 

"Yes! I'll finally be able to upload all the pictures from the Christmas party and post it on the class site!" Rejoiced Hannah, tapping her faithful, and slightly battered digicam, with one finger.

"Oh no…" Said Kouji, as soon as he had heard this. 'Crazy girl's going to humiliate me in front of the while class again…stupid digicam…' He thought, menacingly.

"Oh yes!" snickered Takuya. He was going to enjoy this. It was a well-known fact that most of the pictures Hannah took, were embarrassing ones. And Kouji had two of them.

The friends laughed, and started to plan what they were going to do for the three weeks off. Junpei shared some information about a new movie coming out, a few days from the present. Tommy took out a deck of cards, and suggested that they break the world record for longest card game ever. Hannah supported Junpei's suggestion, despite the fact that she stubbornly insisted that Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, was the greatest movie in filmmaking history. Kouichi suggested visiting Mr. Wasabe, like the good-hearted person that he was, but, unfortunately, everyone turned it down, not wanting to increase the risk of their dear old principal regaining his memory.

It seemed like they were out of favorable suggestions, as the conversation dragged on. Tommy checked his watch. So much time had flown by, in such a short while. It was hard to believe that it was already seven in the evening. Maybe they could continue their planning session tomorrow, he thought. Suddenly, Izumi, who hadn't been contributing much to the conversation, until recently, bolted upright in her seat, beside Kouji, an excited look dancing in her emerald green eyes.

"I've got it!" she said, raising a finger. Everyone then turned his or her heads in her direction, wondering what it was that made the girl so ecstatic.

"Huh? Got what, Izumi?" asked Junpei, hoping that she hadn't lost her mind, since her hands were empty.

"We can go to China, to follow that old man who sold me this snake!" She raised her wrist, showing the little dark green piece of cloth, a near-perfect imitation of the real reptilian animal, with every scale, an exact replica of the real thing.

"Wait a minute…how sure are you that he's in china?" Asked Kouji skeptically. Sometimes, Izumi thought too fast, and often got them into sticky situations. But, he thought, that was also Takuya's problem.

"Well, he's not in his shop anymore…" Said Izumi thoughtfully. "And, judging from the fact that he never reappeared after the New Year's Festival, he could have gone back to China."

"Izumi-Chan is right!" Agreed Junpei.

Takuya shot him a look. "How would you know?"

"Well, when we were in the shop, I was looking at the mooncakes, which were near the cashier. The old shop owner was there, scribbling some notes. A fat envelope was there, too, and I saw that it contained a bunch of bills, and a plane ticket to China, scheduled for the next morning." Explained Junpei, to the quiet group.

"Yes, Junpei IS right, you know." Agreed Kouichi, checking his watch.

"Well, it is worth a try, but who will pay for the hotel rooms, and the trip?" Asked Takuya, adjusting his goggles.

"Hey, scratch the hotel. I'm paying for the trip." Said Hannah firmly. 

The rest of the people looked at her, in surprise. The girl, unperturbed by their gazes, calmly took out a small box from her bag, and revealed it to be a money-container, which held A LOT of money, in Euros. 

"Wait, you have THAT much money?" Asked James, crossing his arms. The fact that his best friend had a small fortune, and didn't tell anyone, bothered him. 

"Yeah. How much do you think people pay me for taking embarrassing pics of Kouji?" She countered, smirking. Ah, but that girl was crafty. She knew that people, especially the girls, would pay her big bucks to take pictures of the elusive and mysterious Kouji Minamoto.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?" Kouji's eyes were wide in shock, as he began to turn slightly red, both from anger and embarrassment.

"Never mind" said Hannah, smiling. She replaced the box in her bag, and put it away.

"Okay, with the money settled, we can leave tomorrow, same time as mom does…" said Izumi, remembering her parents' business trip to Canada.

"That way, we get to save on gas." Said Junpei, matter-of-factly. "I can go online and reserve tickets now, if you like." He said, eyeing the Orimoto's PC, which stood in a corner.

"That would be great, Junpei, thanks." Izumi looked at him gratefully.

"Wait, where will we stay?" asked Tommy, worriedly. His parents would let him go, but not without knowing the who, what, why, where, and how. And, there was the fact that locating the shop owner would not be a piece of cake. Rather, it would be a piece of overripe bittermelon, if you will.

"Surely, there are a million shops all over China. How can we find that old man all in one day?"

Takuya nodded. "Tommy's right."

At that moment, the doorbell rang, and all their prayers were answered.

"Answer the door, Izumi." Called a voice from the kitchen, which was Mrs. Orimoto's. 

Instinctively, Izumi got up, dragging Kouji with her, and turned the doorknob, to see none other than Kirschey Kuniyoshi, her classmate. The cheery girl lived next door, and was a new student at Shibuya High. Kirschey was carrying something with her, in a tote bag. She smiled at them, her blue eyes flashing.

"Hey, Kersh!" greeted Izumi, smiling. Her new neighbor didn't visit often, despite the fact that her mother had been asking her to do so, for the past few days. 

"Hi Izumi! I brought cookies my mom baked, she said to give you some." The girl handed Izumi the object she was holding, a box filled with cookies.

"Oh, thank you!" Surprised, Izumi accepted the box, wrapped in shiny green paper, while Kouji looked over her shoulder.

"TY! Come on in, Kirschey, the others are here."

The new girl nodded, and followed the two inside. She was greeted by an ecstatic Hannah, a calm John and Kouichi, a friendly Junpei, an excited Tommy, and, after a few moments of nervous silence, Takuya, who nearly fell off his chair. Izumi unwrapped the box, and served the cookies, a delicious bunch that Mrs. Kuniyoshi had whipped up herself.

"Mmmm. This is good!" said a hungry Takuya, taking three cookies at a time. "Your mother sure knows how to bake, Kirschey!" he said, grinning. The girl simply nodded and smiled, watching all of them eat, contentedly, as early evening dragged on. 

****

5 minutes later…

"Hey Kirschey, do you think that you could let us stay in your house, in China for a few days?" asked Hannah, taking a bite out of her Ebi Tempura, which they had for dinner in the Orimoto residence that night.

The girl nodded, obviously puzzled at the reason why these people had to go to China. Takuya noticed this, and explained to her the story behind Kouji, Izumi, and the cloth snake. When all was cleared, the German-Chinese-Japanese girl was more than willing to let her friends lodge in her home, if, that is, her parents agreed.

"Sure! When?" she asked, scribbling all the details on her notepad.

"Tomorrow."

"…"

"I bet you weren't expecting that, huh?" asked Junpei, drinking deeply from his glass.

"No I wasn't. Sure you can stay, I'll ask my mom…" finished Kirschey, reaching for her bag. 

She brought a cellphone out of her bag's backpocket, and dialed her mother's number. Daughter conversed with mother for a few minutes, then she hung up, her face glowing. The response was positive.

"She said okay."

"Yes!"

****

The Next day, 3:34 .06 a.m.

The teenagers piled into the silver SUV, parked in the Orimoto's garage. Their luggage was strapped onto the roof of the car, and some were loaded into the back. Like the past two days, the boys slept on the living room floor, in the Orimotos' house last night, only to be woken up a few hours later, by a frantic Mrs. Orimoto, who has afraid that the flight would be missed. Groggily, each got up, after a good deal of prodding from the impatient mother. Izumi herself didn't get much sleep, and there was only so much that she could do, to keep herself awake. Altogether, there were six passengers, and one driver. The car was then reduced to a five-seater, since the luggage took up almost all of the back. 

"Okay … you guys may have to squeeze a bit, Tommy, you can sit in between Takuya and Junpei. Izumi,.. There, that's it, all right, Kouji, you'll have the window seat. " Mr. Orimoto had tried to figure out a way to squeeze five people into three seats. So far, his efforts were in vain. For a few mintues, he had the already grumpy teenagers climbing in and out of the car, until they fit perfectly. It was hard, but in the end, they were finally able to squish together. The vehicle then pulled out of the street, and drove onwards, to the airport.

****

In the car

"Ouch, Takuya, your elbow's jutting in my rib." Complained Junpei, gesturing for the goggle-head to stop bugging him. Inside the small vehicle, they were cramped, tired, and grouchy.

"Sorry. I didn't think you'd feel it, since you're so fat." Retorted Takuya, irritably, pulling away from the older boy, as far as he could.

"WHAT?"

"Guys, now is hardly the time…" protested Tommy, grabbing his bear, and trying to get some peace.

So far, things were not exactly going too well. Everyone was cramped; it was 3:30 in the morning, and a three-hour drive to the airport. The fact that the road was very bumpy did not help at all, since the five people at the back were thrown in and out of their seats, continuously. The only one who didn't seem to be stressed was Izumi, because she was sound asleep, beside Kouji.

****

In the front seats:

"Ken! Watch out for that curve ahead!" Mrs. Orimoto pointed to a sharp twist in the road. The risk of crashing into something else was relatively high, in this route to the airport, so they had to be careful, especially with a carload of complaining teenagers at the back. 

"Okay, Suzie, I'm working on it." Mr. Orimoto gripped the steering wheel, and veered left, all of a sudden.

****

At the back:

"Hey guys, why don't we sing a song?" Suggested Tommy, seeing that all his older friends were upset and stressed. The youngest member of their group then started a simple melody:

"Five hundred bottles of juice on the wall, five hundred bottles of juuuuice, one fell down and…WOAH!"

"Tommy, I don't think it ended with a W-- yaaagh!" correcting the younger boy, Junpei was suddenly cut off by the unexpected lurch.

The vehicle veered left, without warning, and with a bump, caused all its contents to fall to one side. Unfortunately, that was the side on which Kouji was seated on."Aaargh!" yelped Junpei, as he bumped into a sleeping Izumi, who was pushed into Kouji's arms. The anguished boy shook his head, to see if he was still sane, then found Izumi, sleeping peacefully on his shoulder.

"Not again…" he mumbled, tugging at his wrist, which was held in an iron grip, by his slumbering friend.

Then a great weight was thrown onto both the sleeping girl and the lamenting boy, when Junpei, Tommy, AND Takuya all tumbled onto the left side. It was hard to describe what they all looked like, since you couldn't really tell who was landing on who, and which arm was yours. 

"Gaaah! Need.. Air…" Kouji's eyes went wide, because of the immense load that was heaped onto his body. He was on the verge of yelling, and would lose his mind, if something good did not happen soon.

Then the car veered to the right…and all slipped, like a pile of dominoes, to the other side. Kouji, for a moment, regained his breath, while another was held victim of the winding roads.

"OUCH! MY BACK!" 

Takuya tried with all his might, to get Tommy, Junpei, Izumi, and Kouji off of him. But to no avail, this indicated that the fat one had to scrape off a few excess pounds…

And then the road led to the left again…

"Arrgh!" yelled Kouji, trying to push Izumi off of him. If this insanity kept up any longer, he would have wished that the Chinese had never existed… especially that guy who sold Izumi the snake. 

Then right…

"Tommy!"

Then left…

"This is pure torture…"

then left again…

"ugh..*coughcough* I'm not feeling to well…"

'splat.'

"Umm, Takuya? Was that you?"

****

3 hours later..

The silver vehicle pulled up in front of the big, shiny, glassy airport. Mr. Orimoto unloaded the bags at the back, while five tortured and dismal friends got out of the car queasily. Takuya held his stomach, as Tommy smiled weakly. Mrs. Orimoto handed everyone some tissue, to wipe off the mess that the goggle-boy had made on their shirts.

"Well, at least the worst is over."

Then, what used to be a blue morning sky, suddenly darkened, and it began to rain in torrents. Coal- black clouds hovered along the horizon, threatening to strike anyone below, with a lightning bolt. 

"You spoke too soon, Tommy" said Takuya, taking off his hat, and wringing it, watching the rain wash off the puke on his shirt.

"Hmph. At least that's clean." He said, putting his hat back on. 

They were in a dire condition. Each's Hair was all messed up, and clothes were rumpled. The sudden storm had drenched their bodies to the very bone. Kouji's bandanna was crumpled into a small tight ball, and squished into his pocket. Tommy's hat was flattened, and Izumi's was filled with candy wrappers.

"What? Candy wrappers?" she asked, her green eyes widening.

"Why are there candy wrappers in my hat?" demanded the girl, eyeing her friends suspiciously. None answered immediately, except Takuya.

"Well, Junpei and Tommy finished the supply of Road Trip junk food, about fifteen minutes into the ride. I, however, remain innocent before your highness." Said Takuya, taking a bow.

"Hmmm.." Takuya never did talk like this before, unless he was guilty of something. And that particular thought had just entered Kouji's mind..

"Wait. I think Takuya was the one."

"WHAT?"

"He ate the candies, and stuffed the wrappers into Izumi's hat."

"Then, what about Junpei and Tommy?"

"Yeah, they Ate some too, but Takuya was the one who put the wrappers in."

The girl raised a frustrated brow.

"….Well?"

Izumi glared coldly at the nervous goggle-head, who was now fidgeting guiltily.

"How do you plead, Mr. kanabara?" asked Junpei, smirking.

"I—"

"HEY GUYS! IHAVEYOURTICKETSTOCHINARIGHTHERE, YOURPLANESWAITINGOVERTHERE!!! GUYS?"

Startled by the string of unintelligible words, everyone turned to face Hannah, standing under an umbrella, who had generously offered to pay for their trip, in exchange for a documentation of the whole escapade. That was courtesy of Tommy.

"Hi, Hannah!" greeted Izumi, smiling.

"Yo!" was the reply. The brown-haired girl was annoyingly cheerful today, despite seeing her friends' critical conditions. Well some things could not be helped. Hannah bent down and handed Tommy her digicam. The guy accepted it with a questioning look in his eyes.

"Be careful with it, little dude! I'm counting on you!" she winked at the younger boy, who nodded, and smiled, now understanding what she wanted him to do.

"I won't let you down!" he said, stuffing the camera into his already overstuffed backpack. The rest of the people greeted her in their own manner, Kouji barely mumbling an unintelligible 'hi'.

After receiving each's hello, Hannah stood up, now diverting her full attention to the task at hand,

"Your plane is waiting over there, here are the tickets." said she, handing them five pieces of paper. The girl pointed at a large plane, currently being fueled on the airfield. Printed on its side were big block letters, that said 'Singapore Airlines'. They were taking this plane, partly because Hannah's cousin was the boss there, and partly because the tickets were more affordable. After talking for a while, with Hannah, the five friends then said their good-byes, and proceeded into the airport, after getting hold of some umbrellas.

****

Boeing 747, flight 1120, going to China.

"Yes sir? May I see your ticket, please?" the overly made-up stewardess examined the sheet of paper, then guided the passenger to his seat.

"Next, please."

Junpei stepped forward, a dreamy look in his eyes. His gaze was for no one but the attendant. She was tall, gorgeous, had long blue hair, and most importantly, she was thin. Takuya noticed this, and laughed out loud, ruining the fat one's state of bliss.

"WHAT?"

"Nothing…"

"Sir," interrupted the attendant, as she looked uncertainly at the group of drenched teenagers, two of them bound together. 'Kids these days' she thought.

"Yes?" asked Junpei.

"Row M, seat sixteen."

"Thanks."

With one last glare at the mirthful Takuya, Junpei stomped off into the plane, formulating a detailed plot of sweet revenge, and making the other passengers jump.

"Next, please…."

The pretty flight attendant turned her gaze to the next people in line, Kouji and Izumi. 

"Oh, my…shall I give you two seats or one?"

"Two." Choked Kouji, checking if he still had his sanity, after that horrific car ride, and the buckets of rainwater that the unmerciful storm had unleashed on him. He stole a glance at Izumi. At least she still looked fairly decent. The girl wasn't wearing her hat, due to the fact that it had been filled with trash a few moments ago, and because it would be utterly useless and stupid to wear a wet hat, in an air-conditioned environment. But his bandanna was not going anywhere, and Kouji was sure of that.

"Er…okay, seats 5 and 6, row K, please don't wring your bandanna during the plane ride, it will make a mess." Said the attendant, motioning to two seats nearby. After giving her a good glare, Kouji allowed himself to be dragged to his seat by Izumi.

One by one, all five of them got their seat assignments and the plane started to taxi…

****

Row K, seats 5&6

Izumi sat by Kouji, reading the in-flight magazine. She flipped the pages, filled with pictures of sunny beaches, lovely gardens, and the like. Staring out the window, the girl watched the clouds fly past, as a whooshing sound could be heard. The plane was airborne.

"Passengers, please fasten your seatbelts for the trip." The attendant's voice could be heard over the loudspeaker, as a loud sigh from Junpei reached Izumi's ears.

The Italian girl looked the other way, to come face to face with Kouji, who was sound asleep. Izumi smiled to herself. The guy was probably exhausted from the car ride. His cheeks were flushed, but his face muscles were relaxed, as his chest rose and fell with every breath.

The girl sighed and rested her head on the seat. It was going to be a short trip to China, but a long stay. She glanced at the cloth snake, which bound both hers and Kouji's wrists. Smiling, the girl stroked the tiny head with her finger. For some strange reason, she was glad that the Chinese man had pulled a trick on her and Kouji. For once, she appreciated the existence of the cloth snake. Izumi looked at Kouji, again. He was still napping.

'He sure looks cute, when he's asleep' she thought, closing her eyes.

A slight tap on the shoulder woke him. It was the flight attendant. She handed him two breakfast packs, one for him, and one for Izumi. Kouji yawned, and stretched, sighing deeply. He spotted Takuya in the next row, playing cards with Tommy. The goggle head and the younger boy waved to him, and he acknowledged with a nod. The loner took a crumpled bandanna out of his pocket, then tied it firmly to his head. Having done this, he then turned his attention to his slumbering seatmate, whose head was leaning slightly to one side. 'She's quite pretty', he thought. 

When they had entered the digital world, Kouji didn't really think of Izumi as a person he could actually 'like'. It was just in those situations when she displayed affection for him, that he blushed madly. 

Looking at the sleeping Izumi, Kouji smiled faintly, reminiscing those happy times in the digiworld. His thoughts were then interrupted by an annoying voice.

"Are you going to eat that?" 

The boy turned to face Junpei, who was eyeing the breakfast pack. He sighed. 

"Junpei, isn't ONE enough for you?" he asked, noting the grains of rice surrounding the older guy's mouth. The fat one shook his head.

"Never mind. I'll go and ask the beautiful attendant for another pack. She can't possibly resist my manly charm," said Junpei, waltzing off into the aisle.

Kouji smirked, and opened his pack. While he was taking out his chopsticks, a sound from beside him caught his attention. Izumi was waking up. She gave a small yawn, and a smile, when she saw Kouji.

"Good morning. What's that?" she asked, looking at the packs.

"Morning. The attendant left some breakfast food." He pushed the plastic container towards her, as she took out the chopsticks. 

Outside the window, the sun was rising, as the clouds parted for a moment, revealing the deep blue color of the Sea of Japan. Rays of sunlight reflected on the surface of the water, causing a blinding sight. Izumi sat there quietly, eating, thinking to herself. Kouji, at one point, wondered what was on her mind, and was on the verge of asking her. But he thought better of it, and didn't say anything.

A few minutes passed, and the plastic containers lay there empty. Kouji sighed, as silence took over. Only the hum of the air conditioner could be heard, as passengers slept, ate, and flipped through magazines in the cabin. Izumi broke the silence.

"Where is Takuya?" she asked.

Kouji shrugged. He peered into the row after theirs, and found the goggle-head in question, sleeping soundly, beside Tommy, who was sipping from a carton of orange juice. The boy inquired on their condition, and, after receiving a positive response, sat back again in the chair.

Izumi hummed to herself for a while, then talked to Kouji.

"So, um, do you think Takuya likes Kirschey?"

Kouji smirked. "Yes. Isn't it obvious?"

Izumi nodded. "Yeah, I guess."

The boy looked at her for a brief moment then asked a question. 

"Izumi?"

"Hm?"

"Have you ever been a loner, even once?"

"Why do you ask that?"

"I'm just asking…"

"Oh, well, yes."

"Why?"

"Well, most of the time, people jump to conclusions, thinking that I'm a rich spoiled brat, just because I lived in Italy for a couple of years. Without really finding out, they base my character on my looks. They think I'm a conceited snob, when I'm really not."

"Go on..."

"They ignored me, and there I stood, friendless….until I met you guys."

Kouji nodded, and averted his gaze from her for a while. So, she had been a loner, one time or another. Just like him…

"Yeah, I guess they didn't see your inner beauty."

"…."

Oops. Kouji had slipped. Big time. 'Please don't notice, please don't notice, please…' Kouji begged silently, noting the look of mixed emotions on Izumi's face.

Izumi was in a state of shock. She did not see that coming. Part of her wanted to hug Kouji to pieces, and part restrained herself from doing so.

Kouji was busy beating himself up for saying that.

'Kouji, you fool, WHY in the world did you say what you just said?! True, she has inner beauty, but WHY….?' That annoying second voice was scolding him again, just like it always did, when Kouji did something, uh, odd.

This time, however, he answered back.

'Because I like her, stupid.'

Izumi was blushing madly, and she knew it. She tried to hide it by looking out the window. Did…he..Actually compliment her? The girl pinched herself, to check if it was a dream. Nope. It was not a dream. Inside, she smiled. Izumi knew all too well, her deep affection for her friend, Kouji. but what was it turning into, now? Probably just a silly crush. 

A long silence of uncertainty ensued, as Kouji was trying to pull himself together, and Izumi, trying to contain her happiness. The chattering of other passengers could be heard, and, after calming down a bit, Izumi decided to listen to what they were talking about, and, coincidentally, so did Kouji.

An old lady, accompanied by her eighteen-year old granddaughter, occupied the row behind them. The lady was talking about the weather, while the younger woman was listening to heavy rock music, on her Discman. After a few moments of rocking her head back and forth, the granddaughter raised a thought.

"Ei, grandma?"

"What now, AnneMarie?" Snapped the old woman, who was probably in her early seventies.

"Its Ari, grandma." Sighed the girl, opening a heavily shadowed eyelid.

"What then, Ari?" asked the grandmother.

"Those two in front of us make a good pair." Replied the girl, turning her gaze to the younger fourteen-year-olds, sat in the row in front of them.

"eh? Whatever you say, girl. In my day, we weren't allowed to talk such silly nonsense."

"you're no fun, grandma." Laughed Ari, putting her headphones back on.

Kouji heard this, and did not know whether to curse or to be happy. First, his slip. Then now, passengers were talking about him and Izumi? Frankly, the boy really did not know what to think. He wasn't sure yet of his feelings towards Izumi, although he was sure that those feelings were present, and lingering. The boy wrung his bandanna, much to the distress of the flight attendant, then dried it for about five minutes. He then wore it, and was about to doze off again, when Izumi looked like she was going to say something. 

"Hey, Kouji--" she started, but was then cut off by the pilot.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we will be arriving in Beijing, China in fifteen minutes. Please fasten your seatbelts.'

~~~

****

…And the author speaks…

Artemis: hello, peeps! :o) did you like that chapter? Sorry if it is not as good as the others. For the road trip, I was sort of on a sugar high..so if the quality isn't very good, sorry!!! did NOT expect the layout for the 2nd chapter to be soo….crappy! I'm sorry, that was totally uncalled for. I hope this chapter is long enough to satisfy your needs, even though it is my shortest… man…six pages…. All in one day…[pants] oh, and thank you for the info, that Chinese New Year is on January 22nd! Hehe…I didn't know… 

What will happen to our unfortunate friends, and their twisted adventure? What did Izumi want to tell Kouji? Did Junpei succeed in getting another breakfast pack? Will they ever get the wretched snake off? Find out, when I post the next chapter..(dun dun dun…)

Btw, if you guys are wandering what sort of twisted creature I am, lets just say that I am a fledgling Istari, or, in laymen's terms, a rookie Wizard. To prove my lack of skill and experinece, I will share with you the story of how I burnt half the village, with my firebolt spell. Oops, never mind… that's for another time. [looks around] 

OH no! what are you doing here!? Get away from me, foul creature! 

****

…And the villain comes…

Ahhhh!!! Who let you in?!

Ebony: Tommy.

Artemis: Tommy?! Are you in love with my evil sister?

Tommy: she bribed me with cookies.

Artemis: [slaps forehead]* ah, nevermind.

Ebony: and now I will reveal to you all, my sisters' darkest secrets!!! First, she likes---mph! Shffth! mrph!! Grrr! 

Artemis: [ties ebony to a chair and gags her] brat… you can be annoying for an eight-year-old…

Ebony: [menacingly] nine!

Artemis: ah, who cares?

Kouji: review, please.

Ebony: I swear, I will destroy your PC with my lightning bolt, just you wait!!!

Airtimes: ah, but the powers of lightning are inferior to fire…

Izumi: Artemis does not own digimon, us, or anything else. Just Hannah, James, Kirschey, and the extra, Ari.

Takuya:[faints]

Kirschey: o.O didn't know he liked me THAT much

****

…And the chapter ends…


	4. Meeting the Wongs

****

New Year Tricks

Chapter four

Stuck in China: Part 1- Meeting the Wongs

Mr. Li Yap, one of the many operators of the air tower at the international airport, watched as the servicemen scurried to the airfield, as the Boeing 747 from Tokyo landed. The Chinese man sighed, as he drank deeply from his mug of coffee. Another day, another landing. He checked his watch. Time to meet his father for lunch. The man put away his papers, and made for the exit. The doors quickly closed behind him, letting a small piece of green cloth topple to the floor. It wiggled for a while then remained motionless. From afar, one would have thought it to be a snake.

The doors of the airplane slowly opened, revealing the airport of the bustling city that was Beijing. The time was 11:07:13:25, and it was February 2. The harassed flight attendant made her way through the rows of restless passengers, just waiting to get out. In row C, seat 12, Tommy checked his things, eyes running over the bare essentials, in his overstuffed pack. Bear, check. Journal, check. Hat, check. Camera? His hand strayed to Hannah's digicam. Check. Tommy grinned as he thought of the adventure that lay ahead. Running through crowds, fending off bad guys, finding the shop owner. He was going to enjoy this.

"All passengers, you may now exit the plane." The clear voice of the flight attendant rang over the speakers. The woman elbowed her way into the throng of passengers, standing in the aisle, and checked the back rows of the cabin, to see if there were any passengers left behind. None that she knew of. Satisfied, she proceeded to helping the elderly travelers out.

Kouji tugged at his bandanna. He and Izumi were stuck somewhere in the crowded aisle, and an old woman was prodding his back irritably. After ignoring the first sixty pokes, the frustrated teenager decided to do something about it. He turned around to face the woman. 

"Hey, Um.. Miss?"

"Go, get a move on, young man, I can't stay here all day!" the old lady swung her cane, its end nearly coming in contact with Kouji's temple. The boy ducked, then tried to reason with the elderly woman, again.

"Could you please stop…?"

Apparently, she wasn't paying any attention to the complaining Kouji, as the granny began irritating him again. 

'prod. Poke. Poke.'

"Ow!"

'Bump.'

"Kouji!" 

The force of the cane had caused Kouji to stumble a few steps backward, and bump into Izumi. (I don't like using cliches too much, so, no, they didn't blush.) The girl stumbled to the carpeted floor, causing some other tourists to grumble.

"Sorry, Izumi" said Kouji, extending a hand to help her up.

"Watch your step, that hurt!" Izumi took his arm, and slowly pulled herself up, rubbing her tender backside.

"I said I was sorry."

"Right.. Man, this plane is crowded, I can't move!" Izumi turned her attention to the plane door, which was still shut tight.

"Whatever." 

The elderly lady held her wooden cane firmly, as she poked at the unfortunate boy's spinal cord. Kouji held back the urge to kick the granny in the gut, preferring to abide by his honor system. Respect your elders. A high-pitched yelp from behind gave the loner the notion that he wasn't the only one being bothered by the old, but extremely annoying lady.

"Grandma, PLEASE!" an exasperated granddaughter was trying to calm her travelling companion down. 

"Get me off this confounded plane right now, AnneMarie, I have an appointment with Doctor Chang..!"

"Grandmama, we'll be out soon, just don't prod other people!" the eighteen-year old girl shot an apologetic glance at Kouji, who ignored it. 

The line of passengers was beginning to move. Tommy and Takuya, who were seated near the front, were out first. The younger boy stepped out ahead, his hand sliding along the silver railing. Descending the stairs, Tommy took a deep breath, and smiled at the scene that greeted him. It may have been just an airport, but fresh air was always welcome, even if it was slightly polluted. He was glad that they were out of the tight crowd. The boy was slightly claustrophobic. Takuya was beside him in a matter of seconds. The goggle boy carried only a small backpack with him. The rest if his things were inside a large suitcase, that was yet to be claimed in the airport.

A vibration in his pants pocket alerted Takuya, as he took out his cellphone. A message from Hannah. The guy raised a brow, as he skimmed through the bits of information his friend had relayed to him.

"Tommy, according to Hannah, some of Kirschey's relatives are going to pick us up, mainly her uncle, Mr. Wong. He drives a black..Sportscar?" dictated Takuya, punching the keypads. He looked at his younger friend quizzically.

Tommy didn't have much time to react, because Kouji and Izumi were off the plane. The former looked irritated and cranky, but the latter was perfectly all right. In fact, the girl was downright cheerful, which could be inferred from the fact that she was whistling a tune. I think it was 'Oh Happy Day'. In Izumi-translation, that meant 'its great that we're in china and can get the cloth snake off'.

"Right" muttered Takuya, upon seeing his friends. 

"Hey, where's Junpei?" wondered Tommy, scanning the vast crowd of tourists, businessmen, and other passengers. A few minutes of impatient waiting revealed the older guy, tagging along behind the flight attendant, who was frantically trying to get him off her back. 

"Look, one, I already have a boyfriend. Two, you are too young for me. Three, I'm a flight attendant! Okay?!"

Junpei nodded absentmindedly, gazing at the pretty attendant dreamily. He spotted Takuya making a face at him, which brought the guy back to reality. He winked at the woman, then sauntered towards his friends, who were waiting impatiently.

****

~15 minutes later~

Upon claiming their luggage, the five friends walked over to the lobby area, and waited for Mr. Wong. Locating the only free bench in the waiting section, they all tried to crowd in with one another. Takuya eventually gave up, and sat down on the floor. 

Izumi fingered the yellow tag on her knapsack, anxiously. The minutes were passing by, and still no sign of the black sportscar. Had they been forgotten? Kouji sat on the bench, staring at the big plastic clock that hung on the wall. He had grown tired of listening to the single Linkin Park CD that he had brought along with him. Takuya went to buy some food, from some stalls nearby. One could only imagine the armloads of junk food that he would be carrying back, anytime soon. Tommy was scribbling some notes in his journal. No one bothered to look at what he was writing, because his messy scrawl was almost unintelligible. Junpei was there, too, flipping through a magazine. He had already answered the crossword puzzle, in a few minutes. That was one thing the guy was talented at. General facts.

They sat there for an hour and fifteen minutes. Everyone was bored to death. The magazine had been passed around five times, and Tommy's cards were worn out from playing Uno. All the trash from the now non-existent food lay in a corner, collecting dust and attracting ants. As the minute hand on the clock ticked, passengers walked by briskly. People came and went, but the four teenagers, and the eleven-year old, remained there, on the fourth bench to the left, waiting. Soon, Tommy dozed off, clutching his hat, which had fallen off his head. In the other hand, he held the digicam, and the bear. Izumi was daydreaming about Italy again, and Kouji was trying to build a card tower, out if the Uno cards. Takuya was playing games on his cellphone, and Junpei had also dozed off. They were probably never going to be fetched. 

It was almost one in the afternoon, when a black car, with the word 'WONG 1' inscribed on the front plate, pulled up in front of the airport. 

Izumi was about to fall asleep, when she saw the man come in. Supposedly, he was Henry Wong, Kirschey's uncle. The Italian girl yawned, and stretched, irritating an already ticked-off Kouji. Apparently, she had toppled his card-tower over. He just frowned at her, picked up the pieces of card, then got up. She stood as well, and walked towards the man, standing nearby the glass doors. He sported an orange vest, over a black shirt. The man had black hair, similar to Kirschey's. A woman wearing all black stood beside him. She had blond hair, and piercing blue eyes.

Izumi approached them smiling. Her cheerful mood was contrasted by Kouji's scowling face. 

"Hello. You must be Mr. Wong. I'm Izumi Orimoto, Kirschey's classmate."

The man nodded, smiling back.

"Yes, she did tell me about you. And you must be Kouji. This is my wife Alice." He gestured to his companion.

"Hey" said Alice, and Kouji, in unison.

"Hmmm, looks like we are all getting along well, then." said Henry, looking at the others. Tommy was fast asleep, while Junpei was fixing his things. Takuya walked over to them, and introduced himself. 

"Oh, Mr. Wong..Right? I'm Takuya Kanabara"

"Oh, so you're Takuya!" said Alice.

"Huh?"

"Kirschey wrote to us the other day, and she mentioned her new friends. But I was especially interested in the way she mentioned you…" explained the woman, watching amusedly as Takuya turned a light shade of pink.

"Ah..er…well, I'm sure we're all good friends, right?"

Henry nodded.

"well, get your other friends. The house is only fifteen minutes away, but we won't want to keep the rest of the family waiting, would we?"

Izumi and Takuya nodded, while kouji just raised a brow. They all walked back to awaken their friends…

****

Henry Wong's car

"sooo, how was the plane ride?" questioned Henry, noting the varying expressions on each of their faces. 

They were all loaded into the car, which was Honda Civic. Alice and Henry took the two front seats, while the five crammed into the back, which was meant for only three people. They were in the same situation a few hours ago, on the way to the airport. Kouji grimaced at the thought of a long bumpy ride, squished against the window, with Izumi right next to him. Not a pretty thought. Thankfully, the destination was only a few minutes away.

"Oh, um, it was uh, fun. And sorta strange, and-- enlightening." Said Izumi, forcing a smile. 

"Yeah, it was okay, nothing great though." Added Takuya, remembering all those boring in-flight TV shows he had watched. Stupid garden show host (not movies, TV shows. I ended up watching some too.)

"What? It was absolutely FUN! I played cards with Takuya and my bear, took pictures of Takuya sleeping, and had a wrestling match with my bear!' interjected Tommy, waving Hannah's digicam around.

"I don't know. It was just—a plane ride." Said Kouji flatly. He really did not want to talk about the trip right now. A bad headache, an embarrassing situation, a long way from the comfort of his room—these factors could do strange things to a person

The rubber tires skidded to a stop on the asphalt road; they had arrived at the Wong residence. Henry's sister, Suzy, was Kirschey's mother. Black hair, agile limbs, she had gotten them from the Chinese side of her family. The teenagers got out of the car, and helped Henry unload some of the luggage.

The house was old, very old. Although, from the loud rock music escaping through the crack of one bedroom door, you could tell that it's insides were not old at all. Carrying several bags, Henry led them into a small courtyard (think Mulan's house, okay?) where several vehicles were parked. An old lady greeted the new arrivals at the front of the house. She had grey hair, with the slightest hint of white, tied up into a bun. Circular gold-rimmed glasses perched on the bridge of her nose, while thin lips formed a smile. This was Wong Mei-li, matriarch of the Wong family, and Henry's grandmother.

"Ah, our guests from Japan. Welcome, welcome. I trust you had a good trip?" The woman looked at the teenagers, with a knowing grin.

Takuya nodded, and extended an arm.

"Yes, lad, I know who you are. Kanabara Takuya, is it?"

The boy's head shot back up at the response.

"How did you know?"

The lady shook her head.

"I just do. How? That, my boy, is for me to know, and for you to wonder. Now, come in."

She gestured to the open door, leading into an orderly living room. The five absorbed their surroundings for a while. An Oriental rug lay on the floor, with a worn out couch and some intricately designed pots on top of it. And, of course, the living room would not be complete without a home entertainment system. The air inside was slightly stuffy, with the slightest hint of the scent of tealeaves. Izumi breathed deeply. She was going to like it here.

Henry cleared his throat, setting the bags down. 

"The guest room is over there, if anyone wants to sleep in it." He gestured towards a door, beside the kitchen entrance.

"No thanks, Mr. Wong." Piped up Tommy, inspecting the Oriental rug.

"What? Then where will you guys sleep?" asked Alice, giving the guests a quizzical look.

Junpei looked down at the rug.

"This, Madame, will be just fine." He grinned widely at Kouji. The response was a dark glare.

****

~~

Izumi put her bag down, with a thud. Yes, they were going to sleep on the floor, but she needed somewhere to put her clothes. Namely, the guestroom's closet. Her pale hands rested on the ivory knobs of the closet. Very carefully she inspected each pile of neatly folded clothes, noticing every bump and fold. 

A noise beside her told her that she was not alone. Izumi frowned. Yeah, she was never alone. There was Kouji. The boy sighed, unzipping his grey duffel bag. His clothes were cramped inside, along with some stuff to save him from boredom. Particularly his Discman and a few Justice league comic books. After dumping the contents of his bag into another separate closet, Kouji stood up, pulling Izumi with him.

"Shall we leave?" he asked, in a mock-gentleman tone.

Rolling her eyes, Izumi nodded, and they went back to the living room, where Takuya, Tommy, and Junpei were. The sight that greeted them was a strange one. Totally unexpected. Astonishing. Astounding. Surprising. Weird, and totally nuts. 

A half surprised; half-disbelieving look crossed Izumi's features. Kouji was also taken aback, but was not as upset. The living room had turned into a warzone.

The victims?

The older guys, Namely Takuya and Junpei. The offenders? Tommy and a bunch of little Chinese kids, that were later identified as Kirschey's cousins. Weird.

"Yaaaaaaaaaaaa!" a little girl, of about four, with black hair tied into pigtails, ran at Junpei, smothering him in a barrage of pillow hits. The older boy tried to evade her offence, but was unsuccessful so far. 

"Takuya…help!" choked the fat one, trying to get the little girl off.

Unfortunately, the goggle-head had his own problems to deal with. Like a pair of twins armed with pillows and stuffed toys….on a sugar high. 

"Please get off me…I'll give you chocolate," said Takuya, shoving a toy panda bear out of his face.

The young boy tackling him just grinned.

"No need. We are just checking out if Kirschey's friends are worthy."

A confused look crossed his features.

"Worthy? What do you mean worthy?"

"Of her. 'Specially you."

Takuya grinned. He was not going to let a bunch of little kids beat him up. They would regret it.

Meanwhile, Tommy was chasing a crawling baby, who was bound to get himself hurt. Having a little brother was harder than he had thought.

Izumi tried to keep herself from laughing, in vain. First, it was a smile. Then a slight giggle. Then it came. The torrent of laughter, caused by the ridiculous sight in front of her. She threw her head back from laughter, startling Kouji, who had been intent on watching Takuya's torture. Sweet Revenge, at last.

But she was laughing. Not smiling, laughing. Izumi was laughing so much, that tears welled up in her eyes. Her sides were aching from mirth. Kouji raised a brow. In all his years of knowing Izumi Orimoto, he'd never seen her laugh this hard. Too caught up at the sight of the laughing girl, Kouji didn't notice the pillow sailing through the air, until it was too late. White linen and cotton came in contact with his face, as the impact knocked him to the floor, the soft rug cushioning his fall. 

Unseen, Tommy had deliberately aimed the pillow at Kouji. He looked so astonished, and off-guard, that the younger boy couldn't resist battering the usually serious loner with a nice, soft, and strong pillow hit.

Kouji's fall dragged Izumi along, and she was on the rug, still in a fit of laughter. You'd think that someone would actually stop by now. Kouji's eyes darted to all sides of the living room, searching for the culprit. It was most likely Takuya, but he was chasing the twins around, after getting off the floor. Junpei? He was struggling with the little girl. So there was only one left. It was either Tommy, or the little baby he was trying to follow. The culprit's identity had been revealed.

Kouji's midnight blue eyes flashed wickedly, and he was about to throw a perfectly – aimed, well stuffed pillow at Tommy, when a high, shrill voice cut like a sharp knife through the warlike atmosphere.

"Deling! Yun! Zhou! Leave our guests alone, and come here!"

All eyes were now turned to the source of the voice, namely Pai Wong, Kirschey's grandmother. There she stood, regal, respectable, and deadly. She wore a green silk Chinese blouse, adorned with intricate designs, and plain black pants. An arched eyebrow stood, high above her eyes, and her lips moved quickly and rapidly, in the Chinese tongue. The children got up very fast, and in a flash, the living room was restored to its old, but homey finery. They exited quickly. Too quickly. One would have thought that they were afraid of their own grandmother. 

Izumi, her laughter now subsided, stood up to greet the woman, bowing deeply. Kouji was dragged down with her once again. No one noticed the amused gleam that had appeared for a brief moment, in Pai's eyes, after seeing the two, bound together.. After the introductions were over, Mrs. Wong's ice-cold gaze softened at the visitors, and Henry gave a sigh of relief. His mother once was, in one age or another, a kind and loving woman. Years of hard work and motherhood had turned her into a strict and firm, but still caring person. It was her good side that was coming out now. Those little nephews of his and his daughter were going to receive a lengthy lecture later, as soon as this was over.

The guests were called to the dining room, for some tea. Being seated, Mrs. Wong asked them about their stay in China.

"So." She said, putting down her cup, "why again have you come?"

Kouji was tempted to raise his wrist again, as he had did in previous situations, but something told him that this woman wasn't going to settle for a single action. So the boy just sat back in his seat, as the goggle-head babbled on and on about how this crazy adventure all started. The gods be merciful and forbid a flashback, he thought. 

__

The fat dimsum man waddled down the crowded street, stopping by some people, to ask if they wanted to buy some dimsum. Upon receiving a positive answer, he nodded, and turned back to his cart, to fetch the food. Five minutes later, without the good man knowing, there had been quite a commotion caused at the table, apparently having something to do with a certain cloth snake. The dimsum man chuckled lightly to himself. It was probably the doing of old Mr. Yap, the wise and sometimes mischievous merchant. Tsk tsk. Kids these days. They ought to be more careful.

In his seat, Tommy discreetly took out the digital camera, and browsed through the pictures that he had taken. There was Izumi, laughing her guts out, and Kouji, looking like a fish out of water. Hannah was bound to like that. Then, Junpei, being beaten up by a four year old. Takuya seemed to yell at him for help from the screen, as the twins were chasing him. Glancing at Mrs. Wong, who was nodding, while listening to Takuya, then at Kouji, who had a bored look on his face, and at Junpei, who was swallowing butchi balls by the whole, Tommy laughed to himself. 

He could get used to this.

****

~!!!!!~

Artemis: [sighs] well, I'm very sorry for the loong wait on chapter four, considering the fact that my evil teachers have been bombarding me with requirements lately. Ahh…humans. Anyway, I had to cut this chappie in half, since I couldn't finish it on time. [awwwwwwwwwww -__-] it may be short, and uneventful..But that's what you get from cramming this in between project deadlines. Sooo…I'm enjoying writing this story so far, and I hope you enjoy reading it as well. I'm pondering on whether I should make a sequel or not… :) I included Henry Wong, and Alice McCoy of Digimon Tamers, as Kirschey's aunt and uncle…hehe. 

This story most likely will not be completed by the deadline of February 14…sorry, again. By the way, Skadi, the goddess of winter might be taking over the author's notes for a while, and might be writing some of the story for a while. I will try to write chapter five as soon as I can. This might not come so soon, because I have been called to train in the desert, taming wolves. Please bear with me. Having the Ring of Fire isn't an easy job ^__^

Thank you again, to those who reviewed the last chapter.

[Whoosh of cold, cold wind]

****

Artemis: [shivers, and puts on a coat]

****

Skadi: hello, Artemis. When do I take over?

****

Artemis: oh, h-hi s-sk-sk-k-ka-skadi. Umm, ma-maybe n-n-next ch-chapter. O-ka-kay?

****

Skadi: right.

[Mutters something about fire mages, and disappears in a snowstorm]

****

Artemis: whew! Well, that is it for the author's note! Please review! ;)


	5. A day in China

****

New Year Tricks: Chapter Five

Stuck in China: part 2- The Great Wall

The shafts of sunlight escaped through the blinds, in the living room window. The rooster was crowing, in the back yard, while people scurried back and forth, doing the morning chores. The Wong residence was located on Fortune Avenue, in the sleepy suburbs of Beijing. It was six in the morning, and Mei-Li Wong, the matriarch of the Wong family, was in the dining room, quietly sipping from a porcelain teacup. The woman was in her nineties, but was still strong. She had withstood many years of hard work and family crises, throughout her life. Now, her mind was on the visitors from Japan, slumbering in the Living room, at this very moment.

Kouji propped himself up, on the edge of the couch, thinking quietly to himself, and appreciating the early morning atmosphere, before it disappeared. Leaning against the soft cushions, the boy sighed to himself, while staring at the ceiling. His blue eyes ran over the ornate lamps, the delicate porcelain. Everything in this house seemed centuries old, except the children tormenting the living room, the other day. Kouji chuckled quietly, remembering the unexpected pillow fight, which had ensued, the day before.

A yawn escaped someone's lips, diverting Kouji's attention to his sleeping friends. It was Takuya. He watched, as the goggle-boy got up sleepily, rubbing his eyes, and staring into the dim surroundings. He instinctively reached for his cap, which was carefully laid beside the sleeping bag. 

"Aaah." Said Takuya, stretching his arms skyward. He gave a big yawn, and looked at Kouji sleepily. 

The loner just raised an eyebrow, and waited for his friend to say something.

"What's for breakfast?"

Somewhere, in the backyard, a hen clucked loudly.

~~

Mei-li ate her breakfast of rice porridge quickly, then put the bowl in the sink. She walked over to the part of the wall where her old cane was propped on. Curling her withered, but sturdy hands around the rough-hewn handle, the woman hobbled to the front door, opened it, and walked out, into the morning sunlight. It was time to join the other elders, for a lively game of checkers.

The porcelain plates clanked and clattered, as the maid put them down, wordlessly, on the table in front of the guests. The first few minutes of breakfast were dead silent, except for the woman. Kouji stared blankly at every inanimate object in the room, his eyes half-closed. It was a bore to wait for the maid. Izumi's head was rocking back and forth, slightly, as her mind went back and forth, between the dream world, and reality. Tommy was still hanging on to that battered digicam, like it was the once source of power for him. In a way, it was.

Takuya sighed, tapping his fingers absently at the wooden table. The air was heavy with expectation of breakfast. Waiting for it was killing him. The goggle head was about to fall asleep, when another maid entered from the kitchen, carrying a large circular tray, on which several bowls of rice porridge with steamed ginger chicken were placed. He laughed slightly, upon seeing Junpei rub his hands in anticipation of a good meal. That guy was a regular gourmet. When the porcelain bowl was laid in front of him, Takuya grabbed the spoon, and began eating ravenously. For a brief moment, all eyes were laid on the one boy seated beside Henry, slopping noisily. Takuya, aware that he was being observed, looked up expectantly. Pai just laughed, winked at the bewildered boy, and proceeded to eating her own breakfast. Whatever ice was formed at first, between the guests and the mother was now shattered into a thousand pieces.

~~

Mei Li opened the creaky door gingerly. Patches of sunlight shone through Guo Chu's little house, where many of the elders stayed all day, playing Chinese checkers. The small, wiry man gave a crooked half-smile, as he saw the Wong matriarch enter. He motioned to a seat near the window. It was Mei Li's favourite spot. The old woman nodded, then noticed that there was an empty chair, beside a checkerboard. Upon looking at Guo quizzically, she knew immediately that he had gone out. The old merchant Zhou Yap. To the great wall.

"Hmm, how 'bout doing a little sightseeing today?" asked Henry, handing Junpei an old, battered map.

"Sounds good." Said Takuya, walking out from the guestroom. He had just changed.

"Okay, where do we go?" asked Izumi, looking over Junpei's shoulder.

"How about here?" suggested the older boy, pointing a finger at a spot, clearly labeled 'The Great Wall'.

"The Great Wall it is." Nodded Henry, making a quick mental note. 

"Yay! When?" questioned Tommy, replacing the digicam's memory card.

"Hmmm, how about three?" suggested Henry, checking his watch.

"I can take you."

Izumi smiled and nodded, cheerfully.

"Thanks, Henry. That would be great."

Henry bowed. 

"My Pleasure. Now, I think that you should change Izumi, because mother wants the house empty by ten. Mass cleaning." He explained.

"Wait-change.NOW?" asked Kouji, shakily.

Henry nodded, with an amused look in his eye.

"Yes, now. It's 9:45. The maids are coming to clean out the house, soon."

"Right." Muttered Kouji, reaching for a blue handkerchief, and tying it over his eyes.

Izumi giggled, and nudged her friend in the ribs.

"Thanks, Kouji-kun."

"Whatever. Just make it quick, okay?" retorted Kouji, ignoring the attachment to his name.

"Right." Laughed Izumi, rolling her eyes, and taking out a set of clothes from her bag.

The crisp, cool wind blew at the faces of people, as they made their way through the small bazaars, surrounding the world-famous Great Wall of China. Block upon block of rock and brick, spiraled through the Chinese border, truly an awesome feat for any man. Today was a good day for selling, since there were many tourists. The old, but strong merchant searched for faces in the crowd. His eyes were like a hawk's, and there was no one he could not see, from here. A man in his late thirties approached the merchant, carrying a box. The older man nodded to him, pointing to a corner of his stall. He averted his gaze from the box, and began searching the crowd, again. They were not here yet. But they were coming.

It was a 40-kilometer ride from Beijing to the Great Wall. 

Outside the Wong residence, the five friends stood, beside the muddy road. Several puddles dotted the streets, from last night's drizzle. Kneeling on the ground, Tommy was watching some chickens avidly, while Takuya tried to talk to several passer-byes, asking them what exactly was going on in the neighborhood. Of course, he really couldn't understand, since they all spoke in rapid Chinese. Junpei was reading a historian's documentary about the Great Wall, just in case Mr. Wasabe demanded an extensive report on where they had been, for the past three weeks. Izumi was holding her cellphone, sending overseas text messages, to Hannah, Kouichi or Kirschey. The girl laughed at the responses she had received from each f her friends, back home.

****

Izumi, dnt 4get 2 tel Tomy that iyl b w8tng 4 his pics via email. Pls tel hm 2 use or borw Takis laptop. Got 2 go, kochis rily mad at d mes I made in hs ktchn. Hs moms cmng home soon. Bye. -Hana 

Tel Kouji dat hanas got mor pics of hm, w/c she gav 2 svral of hs fangrls. Hws d vcaxn so far? Hana told me u guys wer havn fun. Keep my bro safe. -Kochi

Hey Izumi! Krshee hr. tel taki dat my moms snding a cr8 of cukis 4 u guys. I myt folow. Am leavn 4 china on d 5th. C ya! :)

Izumi laughed, quickly replying to each of their messages.

****

Hey guyz. Its bin fun hr so far. Wer goin 2 d gr8 wal 2day. Krshees famly is rily nice, bt I thnk dat hr cousns r beatn up d othr guys. Iyl try 2 snd a postcrd soon. Wsh u wr hr. l8r.:) 

After punching in the last few punctuation marks, Izumi looked up. The guys were making two chickens fight with each other. Kouji was looking on, interested. The Italian girl shook her head, knowingly. Guys. They could be so brutal sometimes.

Takuya was poking one chicken with the stick he had picked up. When the farm animal looked at him questioningly, the boy just pointed to the other chicken, who was eating some chicken feed. The first bird began pecking the other chicken, which led to a fight. Junpei and Tommy watched, captivated by the action.

"Look at them go!"

"I'll bet the first chicken's gonna win."

"No way. The second is waaay stronger."

"Yeah right."

"Who cares! Look, he's really angry now!"

"Ooh man, that other chicken's in big trouble now!"

"Speed, strength. They count. The second chicken is going to win."

"I'll bet you a hundred yen, that the first wins."

"You're on."

"Guys, it looks like Junpei's gonna lose the bet."

"I am? No way!"

"Told you the second is going to win."

"Wait, what a comeback!"

At that moment, when it seemed that all was lost for the second chicken, a big, blue, and expensive-looking SUV dashed by, splattering mud and grime onto the bystanders, on the road side. Izumi looked down, horrified, at her clothes. They were all covered in mud. Even the chickens, who now looked like sewer rats, seemed dazed, at the sudden splash of dirt and water. Kouji, who had a really ticked-off look on his face, whipped of his muddy bandanna (it got soiled, for the third time, in this story) and walked off into the house, dragging Izumi with him. Sighing, the boy made for the entrance of the house, while the girl followed. It turned out to be a bad idea. A VERY bad idea. Henry wasn't kidding, when he had said that Pai always liked to keep the house clean. Clouds of dust floated from the living room, once Kouji and Izumi got in. The girl coughed, looking into the brown haze. Kouji could just make out the silhouette of a busy maid, vacuuming the rug. Whatever dust particles were there, immediately clung to the muddy clothes of the two. Izumi coughed again. Trying to find the entrance to the kitchen, so that she could wash the mud off her face, she accidentally tripped over a piece of furniture. Izumi fell on the bare floor, with enough force to drag Kouji down, also. 

"coughcough Ow! I can't see!"

"."

"Kouji are you there?"

".uh.yeah."

"Why can't I see?"

As a response, Kouji tried to get up. This was not and easy task, since he was under a heavy wooden table, which seemed to be there at the right time. Then, Izumi could see again. What did she see? The Black cloth of his shirt. Aside from his breathing, she could hear the hum of the vacuum cleaner, getting louder. This new revelation wasn't a very comforting one.

"Kouji?"

"Yeah. What?"

"Please please please try to get up before the maid comes."

"Right, wait."

Izumi could hear the sound of a table, scraping against the floor-tiles. Pretty soon, they were back on their own two feet, and headed to the kitchen. Kouji kept silent all the way. Apparently, there was something else going on in that brain of his. The loner watched, as Izumi washed her face in the sink.

~~

Outside, three boys remained. Standing in their mud-caked clothes and shoes, they were absolutely speechless. Maybe it was the shock that came with getting splashed in mud all of a sudden. Maybe it was the dazzling blue of the vehicle that passed by. Or maybe it was something else. Takuya's eyes followed the blue vehicle that had passed by a while ago. After reaching the end of the street, it seemed to veer off course, and turn back, headed for the Wong residence. The goggle-head's eyes widened, as he saw the SUV coming towards them. He motioned frantically to the other two.

"Guys! Get out of there you'll be-"

'splat'

".splashed."

Takuya now looked up at the side of the blue vehicle, angrily. The guy who drove that thing had some nerve. It seemed that he hadn't seen them. But who wouldn't have seen several Japanese teenagers, standing by the roadside?

He watched, as the door opened, and a guy stepped out. All seemed to have been taken aback, at the sight of him. He wasn't a mean, cruel guy, who had splattered them on purpose, or a rich snob who didn't care. In fact, the very being that had stepped out of the vehicle, was their own age. 

He had black hair, and brown eyes, which were slightly chinky. Flawless, pale skin and a quizzical look, finished his expression. The boy walked towards Takuya, and asked a single question, his accent and pronounciation, perfect.

"Where is Kirschey?"

Junpei could have sworn that a nuclear bomb had gone off then and there, and had hit Takuya, because the guy certainly looked like one had hit him. Uncertain silence ensued, after the Chinese guy asked the question for the second time. He was now looking at then suspiciously, like they didn't belong here. Tommy, sensing the building tension, answered it himself.

"She's in Japan, she's coming here on the 5th."

The guy acknowledged with a nod, and, with a slight bow, reentered the blue vehicle. The engine revved up, and soon, it had pulled out of the street, and into the broad sunshine, that brightened the streets of Beijing. Takuya stood there, stiffly, as if he was planted to the ground. The guy didn't say a word, but inside, his brain was exploding with questions. 'Who?' 'Why?' 'How?' but worst of all. 'He's looking for KIRSCHEY?'

Izumi and Kouji had since left the dust-cloud infected house, and were making their way to the gate. As the two stepped over chickens and past piles of droppings, Kouji began to sense that something was wrong. The sight that greeted them outside was expectable, but nonetheless strange, to the untrained eye. The remaining guy were splattered in several layers of mud and who-knows-what, while Takuya looked like he was concentrating on something hard, or was really really constipated. The remains of their meeting with the boy still lingered in the humid air, and his clear voice rang in Takuya's ears, despite the loud clucking of hens.

'Where is Kirschey?'

'Do you know her?'

'Who are you?'

These questions popped up in Takuya's mind, one after the other. But the worst thought of all was yet to come.

'Are you her boyfriend?' 

03:25:09:28 p.m., Henry's car.

So far, things were going pretty well, after the 'blue car' incident. The guests were at the back of Henry's car, on their way to the great wall, while the good-natured man hummed to himself, as he made his way through the road leading to the great wall. The teenagers were dozing off at the back, save Kouji. He was staring out the window, at the scenery rushing past. Farmers, carabaos. Children. Fathers. Sighing, the boy slumped in his seat, while Henry hummed on. This allowed the somewhat introverted loner to reflect on his present thoughts.

Right now, he was thinking about the present situation: yes, his feelings, however small, for Izumi were there. The only problem now was whether she would return those feelings, or reject them. That was, if he ever had the guts to actually tell her. Kouji sighed, inwardly. This crush business was confusing. There were a pile of books at the back of his closet that described love as dizziness, sweaty palms, and pimples. As far as those things were concerned, Kouji wouldn't like to have been in love. But this, this was different. Was it love? Nah.

What had seemed like just minutes, was actually an hour. Soon, the towering gateway of the Great Wall of China was visible, from afar. Kouji's eyes widened slightly because of the magnificent sight. A grand archway, with stone carvings on either side, and a plaza, where a throng of tourists were, buying and haggling with the merchants present. Kouji turned, and gently shook Izumi, waking her up. The fair-haired girl gave a small yawn, then smiled, upon seeing her friend. Her sight them fell upon the wondrous gateway, and Izumi let out a small gasp. Henry heard this, and chuckled. 

"Pretty amazing, huh?"

"Yeah. Nice gate."

"There's more. Much more. The great wall extends for 7,400 kilometers, each piece was built bit by bit, by the orders of a Chinese emperor, long ago." Explained Henry, maneuvering around another car.

Izumi sighed, and nodded, taking in the sight. Beside her, Kouji shifted positions, uncomfortably. He had a feeling that something peculiar was going to happen. Yes, very peculiar indeed.

The old man turned his withered gaze, in the direction of the wind. To the south, he could see a black car, weaving its way through the traffic. They were inside. They were coming. The man closed his eyes, and mumbled a prayer to his ancestors. He only hoped that his donkey of a son would get everything right.

~~

Skadi:

Yes, liked it? Artemis is currently on vacation in the desert, so I will be taking over for now. Suggestions are welcome. The sequel to this story's plot is in the making, so please read it when it comes, and when this story is finally done. Don't forget to review!

Disclaimer: artemis owns not, digimon. Only the charracters whom she has created.


	6. Bandits

New Year Tricks

Chapter Six:

Bandits

Henry stepped out of his car, closing the door. Outside, the air was somewhat chilly, since the afternoon was progressing. It was about three-thirty, and they had missed the tour. Sighing, the eldest Wong sibling consoled himself, with the saying 'you can't win them all'. Henry waited for the guests to come out of the car, seeing that they had a little waking up to do, thanks to the previous morning's events.

Inside Henry's car, the girl shook her younger friend, who was slumbering peacefully beside her. Tommy just yawned, and turned in his sleep, making it harder for the already frustrated Izumi. She groaned, pushing his arm off her lap. Next to Tommy, Takuya stretched awake, blinking his eyes, and greeting the world good morning, once again. His brown eyes met those of his agitated friends, Kouji and Izumi, who were desperately trying to wake Tommy.

"Hey guys, are we here yet?" Asked Takuya, stealing a glance at the window.

"Yes we are, now would you please help us with him?" hissed Izumi, pointing to Tommy.

Takuya snorted. "Okay. It's my duty to help people who cant' even handle an eleven-year-old."

Arrogantly, the goggle head reached over to the younger boy, while Kouji glared daggers at him, from the other side of the seat.

"Here little teddy bear…" cooed Takuya, using a finger to poke at Tommy's ribs. The result was shocking.

Nothing happened.

Kouji just sat back where he was, and smirked. Beside him, Izumi suppressed a wide grin.

"What's wrong, Taki? Can't handle an eleven year old?" asked the loner sarcastically.

Takuya just glared at him, while trying another few times to wake Tommy. All to no avail. Impatient, Izumi pushed Tommy's stray leg out of her way, and tried to get out of the car.

"Takuya, you wake him up. And Junpei, too. I'm—I mean _we're_ going outside." The girl threw the goggle head an impatient look.

"Fine." Was the reply.

Before slamming the car door on Takuya, Kouji looked back, to see if the guy was making any progress. Bad idea. A flailing leg of the eleven-year-old just got out of control, and jabbed Kouji Square on the knee.

"Ouch. Ouch. Ouch." Kouji hopped out of the open door, and into the cold air. Beside him, a quizzical Izumi inquired on his hopping, with an amused expression painted on her features.

"Tommy. Kicked me." Grunted Kouji, avoiding her gaze. 

Inside the car, Junpei was already awake. Who wouldn't wake up when there was a battle going on in the car? The first thing he saw was Tommy's muddy shoe. Muttering angrily to himself about inconsiderate seatmates, the plump one got out of the vehicle, hoping to find better company.

"This is it." Breathed Takuya. He had been fighting an uphill battle with Tommy, who was struggling so much, that Takuya didn't know whether he was asleep or awake. The goggle head's gaze fell on the slightly battered, overstuffed Teddy bear that Tommy carried in his arms from time to time. Over the past years, Tommy's bears had lessened considerably in size, making them more efficient to carry around. Laughing silently to himself, Takuya violently yanked the bear out of the sleeping boy's hands, causing uproar.

Outside, Henry worried whether the inside of his car was still intact. Not very likely. The man shook his head. The friends of his niece sure were strange. His glance fell upon the three standing outside: Kouji, Izumi, and Junpei. The latter two were making conversation with each other, while the other one—who was usually aloof from the rest, was rubbing his knee.

Henry walked towards the square, where quite a large number of people were selling their wares. Tourists came, looked, haggled, and bought, while the locals looked on happily. 

"Cool. The Wall, finally!" Takuya turned his gaze to the rows and rows of bricks, winding up and down china's countryside. Quite fortunately, the mischievous fourteen-year old had been able to get himself out of the car, and away from vengeful Tommy. Behind him, the slightly shorter boy followed, with a bloodthirsty grin. Junpei laughed out loud, upon seeing the youngest member of their group slink up silently on the unsuspecting goggle head.

"Just what he deserves."

Izumi nodded in agreement. A few seconds later, a shout echoed into the air, prompting the curious looks of some nearby locals. Takuya was dancing, or rather- jerking around ungracefully, while trying to get a big hairy spider out of his shirt. Tommy was laughing and pointing at his prey, enjoying his oh-so-sweet revenge. Izumi felt one of those huge laughing spells about to explode in her. She looked to Kouji, who was rubbing his sore knee. Upon catching her gaze, he stopped.

"What?" a wave of uneasiness swept through the boy, upon looking up at Izumi.

The girl just gave a bright smile in reply.

"Nothing."

Kouji was about to tend to his knee again, when he noticed a cloaked man watching them, from the edge of the wall. Before the boy could observe his features further, the mysterious figure had vanished out of sight.

Kouji had the urge to try and follow it, when he felt a tug on his arm. It was Izumi.

"Kouji! Let's go and see the souvenir shops!"

The boy wanted to say that he'd rather stay, but the pleading look in those beautiful green eyes were one of the few things that he just couldn't say no to. So, with a mental kick aimed at himself, Kouji allowed himself to be dragged by the excited girl, to the bazaars.

Junpei greeted them there, with a mouth stuffed with mooncakes, as well as a small plastic bag.

"You guys should try this stuff—delicious!" he motioned to a stall, bedecked with mooncakes, where a man looked at the pair expectantly.

"Ehh, no thanks, Junpei." Said Izumi, casting an apologetic look. She scanned the clusters of stalls, looking for something of interest. Finding one that suited her standards, the girl dashed off, dragging a very annoyed Kouji behind her.

They came to a stop, at a booth stacked with silk blouses, at an affordable price. Izumi's eyes went wide with delight, as she began browsing through the many items of clothing. Kouji meanwhile watched, uninterested. Girls. Always crazy about shopping. He was about to try to get himself and Izumi out of the horrid place, when a delighted yelp cut through the shop's stuffy atmosphere. Kouji spun around, only to see the pretty Italian girl holding up silk lavender blouse, adorned with ornate silver lining. The boy rolled his eyes. All this over a single blouse. He would never understand the female species.

After purchasing the blouse, the pair proceeded to go and look for their other friends. A message on Kouji's cellphone revealed Takuya's location: at a trick shop. Junpei was with him but Tommy was nowhere to be found.

"Okay, how about seeing Takuya? I'll bet he has loads of cool stuff to show us!" suggested Izumi enthusiastically.

"Right." Muttered Kouji, heading in the direction of the said destination.

A few meters away, an old man carried a tall, wobbling stack of hand-woven baskets, to be delivered to another booth. He was muttering things to himself, particularly about today's careless youth. Unaware of where he was going, and whom he was bumping into, the elderly Chinese man accidentally tripped over the shoe of a male tourist.

Kouji was strolling along beside Izumi, who could have sworn that a thundercloud was following the moody boy. They had already spotted Takuya a few shops away, and were heading towards him and Junpei (ooh, that rhymes!), when an old man carrying a load of woven baskets crossed Kouji's path.

A string of rapid curses escaped the old man's mouth, as he, together with the pile of baskets, fell into a heap, along with two very surprised teenagers. 

"!@#$%^&*"

"Ouch!"

Muttering to himself, the man got up, picked the baskets off the two heads hurriedly, and went on his way, as if a storm cloud was following. Two very confused fourteen year-olds got themselves up, dusted off their pants, and continued walking towards Takuya.

Higher still, above the busy market-like scene, stood a bunch of bandits, crowding around a single battered photograph. Most of them were not that physically fit; only the youngest, a youth named Ping, and his equally nimble twin brother Pong, were in any good shape, to go raiding the countryside. But alas, these two were as dim-witted as sacks full of rice. Dressed in raggedy but colourful flowered shirts, and cheap, department store sunglasses; these men eyed the snapshot carefully. An old, toothless ex-fisherman, whom everybody else called 'gramps' licked his lips in anticipation.

"They certainly look like they will fetch much money."

"Shut up, gramps." Retorted a plump bandit, waving a fake camera at the man.

"Eh, how bout this one?" asked a thin man, with ratlike features. He pointed a scrawny finger at a person, in the photograph.

"Mmm…yes, he will fetch a fair price indeed." Said a voice.

Surprised, the thieves all turned their heads to the source of the sound. It was their leader. Most bandit leaders in the history of the world were thought to be brave, cunning, swift, and strong. Not this one. Oh yes, he was cunning, and could deliver a good wallop anytime. But swift? brave? This was Rambashi. A short, chubby man in his late forties, this bandit looked like someone who would start a restaurant, rather than lead a group of thieves.

"Sir?" inquired a man.

Rambashi nodded.

"We strike now, fellow bandits, when the prey isn't looking." He declared haughtily, with the air of one who was going to fullfill a very important task.

"Right now? With all those tourists?" asked another, crossing his arms.

"WHO DARES CONTRADICT ME?" fumed Rambashi, pulling himself up to full height, which, unfortunately, wasn't very tall.

"Shhh!" hissed gramps, eyeing the tourists below, who were wandering where the shouting came from.

"Right." Replied the leader, cooling down.

"Remember, men. We ARE tourists. Repeat that to yourself twenty times. We are tourists."

Nodding, the men stalked off, each muttering the phrase to himself quietly.

Quite carelessly, they had forgotten about the photograph, which fluttered away in the wind. If one standing on the ground took a close look at the flying snapshot, one would have seen the smiling faces of five Japanese teenagers.

Admiring the turquoise carpet somewhat half-heartedly, Takuya put it back on the shelf, suddenly remembering the eyes of a person he'd rather forget. Junpei was chatting amiably with the lady who sold the carpets. She could speak a few sentences of broken English. (a/n: yes, they speak Japanese, but they also speak English.)

A noise from behind alerted the goggle-head, revealing his two friends. They seemed flustered, and disoriented. There were several strands of straw, sticking out of Izumi's flaxen hair, and Kouji's bandanna was pulled awkwardly to one side.

"Hey, guys. Where have you been?" asked Takuya, trying to repress a chuckle.

"Under the baskets of some old nut." Replied Kouji gloomily. Izumi shot a sharp glance at him, and rephrased his sentence.

"Uh, we bumped into a man. He was carrying baskets." She said, trying to hide the aggravation from her voice.

Turning around, Junpei just noticed the two arrivals. He waved, and walked towards the three.

"Hey guys, where have you been?"

Izumi had to restrain Kouji from stepping foreword. He glared at Junpei, which was somewhat uncharacteristic of him. The loner, no matter how moody, never tried to upset one of his friends.

Takuya chucked slightly, and answered Junpei's question.

"Under the baskets of some old nut."

The fat bandit leaned over the crate of fish. There he was. Small, weak, and unsuspecting. Chuckling to himself, the bandit, known to most as Mujiin rubbed his hands. In front of him was one of the tourists. Probably the youngest in their group. Mujiin's gold sunken eyes flashed in eager anticipation.

Tommy was wandering around for quite some time. Spotting a merchant who sold ducks, the curious boy stopped to take a look. The booth tender lady in her mid-fifties eyed the eleven-year-old suspiciously. She watched as he gawked at the baby ducks, sometimes trying to poke them.

'Get Away from there, boy!" she barked at him, in Chinese, waving her lit cigarette.

Not understanding, Tommy just looked back at the upset lady questioningly. Then it dawned on her: he was, in fact, a tourist. One of those careless clumsy types, no doubt. Suddenly flashing a less-than-glittering smile of yellowed and missing teeth, she began her tourist act.

"You like duck?" questioned the lady, in broken Japanese.

Tommy nodded eagerly, pointing at a brown one. Smiling to herself, the lady held out her wiry hand. 

"Give money. Then I show you duck."

Fishing out a few bills from his pocket, the boy handed her the money, unaware of her real intentions: to take the money, then leave. That was Zhyi Xu for you, the most hated among the merchants.

Cackling like an old hen, the woman turned her back to Tommy, counting the bills and muttering to herself, wondering if she should ask for more. The brown duck _was_ the biggest in her pen, after all.

Turning around to announce her price hike, the woman instead faced a patch of once-occupied air. Her eyes widening in disbelief, Zhyi caught a little scrap of paper, fluttering to the ground. On it was a single symbol: the emblem of Rambashi's bandit group. Once processing this, the mean old lady tore the scrap to bits, and stomped it into the ground, muttering angrily.

"Wanna-be bandits. Humph. My grandmother could beat them up, if she wasn't dead."

Takuya's chocolate eyes blinked in surprise, (another rhyme) seeing the small, black leather case on the ground. Gingerly, he picked it up, finding that Hannah's digital camera was still nestled inside, in between the protective layers of foam. Puzzled, the goggle head wondered why it was there on the ground, nowhere near Tommy.

Izumi tapped her foot impatiently. It was nearing six o'clock, and many of the stalls were already closed. About five tourist busses had unloaded the noisy crowds, and still, Tommy was missing. Beside her, Kouji clutched his stomach. Despite the more-than-filling lunch at the Wong residence a few hours ago, their tummies were as empty as Mrs. Van Harder's motor cortex.

"Awwww… I'm starving.." moaned Junpei, taking a quick glance around, for any food stalls.

Then, Takuya felt an itch creep up his arm. Folding up the sleeve of his shirt, the goggle head realised that he was being feasted on by killer mosquitoes. 

"AAARGH!"

Yelping, jumping up and down, and swatting the beastly little things, the others could just watch their leader in sheer astonishment. Takuya looked like some sort of mutated dancing toy monkey that was out on display sometimes, at the malls. Grabbing the camera, Izumi quickly took about five snapshots, before replacing the device in its leather case. A few moments after tucking it safely in her backpack, a terrible itch was felt creeping up her leg, as well.

Yelling a four-letter word, Izumi quickly applied anti-mosquito lotion, while swatting away the vile, bloodsucking creatures. It repulsed anyone, to think of how muck blood was lost annually, thanks to these varmints. Kouji smiled, despite himself. Watching the goggled monkey, and the frantic girl, the usually cool boy could only restrain the laugh that was ballooning inside him.

Footsteps were heard behind them, as the tall form of Henry came into view. Accompanying him was Alice. He was smiling, but upon seeing the glum and anxious faces of his guests, that smile vanished. Stepping up to them the man inquired on why they were so upset. Izumi responded first.

"Henry, it's late, we're being eaten alive by mosquitoes, and Tommy's missing!" worried, the girl threw her hands up into the air, upsetting Kouji.

"Izumi." He sighed, tugging at her wrist.

"Oh. Sorry." She immediately put her hands down.

Upon hearing this, Henry's face grew dark.

"He's missing. That isn't good." The man's tone was grave.

Turning to Takuya, he asked a question.

"How old is Tommy?"

"Eleven." Was the prompt reply.

"Eleven." Repeated Henry, processing the possibilities into his mind. He looked up, almost frantically.

"Quick. We should get help."

"Huh? Why?" asked Junpei.

"Because, there are many bandits and kidnappers here, and it is possible that Tommy has become one of their victims." Replied Alice, raising her voice.

Kouji watched grimly as Henry fumbled for the car keys. The sky was getting darker, as the sun sank into the maze that was Beijing City. Tommy's life was at stake. What were they doing just standing there?

A slight figure clothed in black then caught Kouji's eye. Realising the imminent danger that they were in, his eyes narrowed.

Instinctively, the boy grabbed Izumi's hand, and made a dash for the car. The black figure disappeared, as Kouji felt a tug back. It was Izumi. Her turquoise eyes were deep pools of confusion and anxiety, and for a moment Kouji was taken by them, but was pulled back into real life.

"What?"

"Kouji, we have to look for Tommy." Her voice was stricken with worry.

"Izumi, we are in more trouble than you think."

"But kouji-!"

Frustratedly, he turned to face her.

"Look. We can't help Tommy, if we are also kidnapped by these psychos. If we look for him now, then there's a chance that we'll find him, but also a chance that we'll find _them_."

Nodding, the girl just followed his lead.

"Let's go!" giving a strong tug on her arm, Kouji made his way towards the silhouette of Henry's Honda Civic. This time the others were with him, too. Their steps on the dry earth made eerie, echoing noises in the nearly empty square.

Stopping to catch his breath, Kouji scanned the walls and the booths for any sign of the mysterious figure. There was none. Relieved, the boy's hand tried to open the car door, but it was locked.

Wondering what was going on, Kouji turned to Izumi, who was gripping his arm with all her might. Her eyes widened in fear, and the boy wandered what was bothering her. Then, he noticed that Henry's tall shadow was missing.

Suddenly looking up, his head came in contact with a blunt object, causing a flood of black to penetrate his vision, as well as the rest of his senses. A cruel laugh rose above the aching silence, as unconsciousness dawned on the boy. Soon, Kouji's mind was a hazy swirl of the blackness, and the last thing he felt was Izumi's hand tighten around his arm…

~~~~~

Skadi:

Well…these strange people certinaly are screwed up. I never doubted that Artemis was twisted. Nope, never did. Of course Ebony's another story…

Ah. Chapter seven. Who are these evil weirdos that kidnapped Tommy? Will the cloth snake ever get off? Who hit Kouji? What happened to the merchant? When will this thing ever end? Will there be a time when Artemis finally gives up trying to make a .hack//sign fiction? (oops…shouldn't have said that. Doesn't matter, anyways.)

Ehhh…the ending…

Is WAAAY overdue. Artemis is coming back tomorrow, from that beastly desert.

To Protoblues: I would have liked to hear your guess at what was going to happen next. And, yea…I won't give away any spoilers… Because im not THAT cruel…

…am I? [laughs]

To everyone else: REVIEWWWWWWW!!!! Yea! Thanks for those who did! Oh yea, and without Artemis' authorization, I hereby stage a guessing game: WHATS GONNA HAPPEN NEXT? Winner gets…umm…dunno…an imaginary chocolate bar? ;b

8 pages and a big headache, the goddess of winter bids you goodbye.

Disclaimer: If I owned Digimon, I would have made the characters' lives miserable. They're lucky that I won't, can't, and don't.


	7. Old Lady to the Rescue

New Year Tricks

Chapter 7: Old Lady to the Rescue

By Skadi…Artemis –someone!

A/n: hello, readers. I am sad to say that Artemis has passed away in the desert's heat. Her untimely death is the reason for the long wait on chapter seven. Please bear with me and Ebony. Artemis has asked me to continue this story, in her place…

Artemis : AAAAAAAAAAAAAGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! What's with you Skadi?! I'm not dead!!! Look!!!

Skadi:o.O

Artemis :Stupid ice witch…

Skadi: [seething] Ebony…

Ebony: squeak [hides behind Artemis]

Artemis :Oh shucks…don't tell me you fell for that, Skadi!

Skadi: [seething]

Artemis :Skadi?

Skadi: forms ice bolt in her hand You will pay, Ebony Akropoulos!

Ebony: eek! Help! SHE'S GONNA STUFF AN ICE BOLT UP MY BEHIND!!! runs away

Skadi: come back here you evil brat!!! [runs after ebony]

Artemis : sweatdrops oKay…here's chapter seven…

The plump, squat Rambashi sat close to the lighted embers of the bonfire, while his men scurried about to and fro, preparing dinner. The moon was now high above, in the sky, clear and pale. From everywhere, sounds of pattering feet, and ordering voices could be heard. 

Proud Rambashi just sat there, stroking his headdress of tattered peacock feathers. The small bandit leader was a good bit shorter than Kouji, even with his pompous hat on. His small, beady eyes saw most things, including Tommy, who was desperately trying to wriggle his way out of the ropes that were binding his body.

Laughing cruelly, the bandit leader scoffed at the boy's feeble attempts.

"In vain, boy, in vain. Those ropes are as firm as a python's body, I tell you." 

Tommy, upon seeing the little bandit-leader, gave him a full-fledged, jumbo-sized glare. The young boy didn't cease his struggling, however.

Beside him, lay an unconscious Kouji, still knocked out after being hit at the back of his head. Takuya was close by, sullenly watching every move that the bandits made. He pulled his cap lower on his head,struggling awkwardly with his tied hands. Unvoiced thoughts ran through his mind. 'How could I get my friends into this?' 'why didn't I notice that Tommy was missing?' 'argh, I'm the leader, but look at the mess I got the guys into.'

Izumi hadn't said a word, since they were captured. She sat there,with one had near Kouji's, and the other balancing her chin.

The moon was full, in the gray sky, and not even a single star was out. It seemed that the night was fit for the sullen moods of our unfortunate friends.

Junpei sat there, watching the fire's glow. He was entranced by the dancing flame, which sent radical ideas into his imagniative mind. Like a plan of escape. The eldest in the group toyed with the idea of getting hold of one of the bandits' knives. Then, he would use the blade to cut his friends loose, and for once, be the hero of the whole adventure.

"yeah…that sounds pretty good! Junpei Shibayama, the savior of four distraught children in China…hmmm…" the fifteen year old mused to himself, contemplating the possibilities.

By the bonfire, the bandit Mujin's senses were aroused. He turned to face Junpei in wolflike demanour, with flashing golden eyes. Seeing the boy's terror-stricken face, the man laughed cruelly. "Go ahead." He sneered. "Escape. Cut your friends away and run like frightened rabbits. Rambashi will get you. I will get you." The man's scarred face looked even more frightening in the crackling fire.

As Junpei was being interrogated by the flea-bitten scoundrel that was Mujin, a boy named Kouji was beginning to come to his senses.

"ow…" he rubbed his forehead tenderly, feeling the spot that had been damaged the most. Kouji lifted his hand, only to have it pushed down. The boy blinked. All he could see were shapeless blotches of color, with no definite source. They were just floating around…

the colors suddenly morphed into one, as Kouji's sight grew clearer. It was Izumi.

"Kouji, are you alright?" she asked. There were stains of dirt on her cheeks, and her soft hands were slightly rough. Kouji took in all these bits of information, before wondering if he was in heaven yet. And if izumi was an angel.

"Kouji?"

then he heard Takuya's voice. Nope. Not in heaven. Kouji groaned, as Izumi helped him prop himself up on the wall. As she did this, a dozen questions arose in his mind all at once.

Where were they?

What of the bandits?

Henry?

Alice?

Where was Kirschey?

Was Tommy safe?

"Calm down, Koj." Assured Izumi, caling him by his nickname. She had noticed his rapid breathing, and his cold sweat. "we're okay." She glanced at Tommy, who was clutching Hannah's camera. "All of us." She added.

All he could do was nod; inside, he was thinking of a way to get out. Sitting against the wall, Kouji closed his eyes. A moment later, they flickered open. All the exits were blocked by guards. There was a bonfire, in the middle. He blinked. And there was a fat guy in front of it.

The leader,

Rambashi.

It was then that Kouji noticed, that all their hands were bound. He didn't sense it in the first place: Izumi had helped him up despite her difficulty…why was this? He turned to said person, inspecting her silently, but thoroughly. Was she sick or something?

Izumi caught this and looked at Kouji quizzically. What in the world was he doing? A voicee broke through their thoughts.

"Now's not the time to be staring at each other y'know…"

in a rapid movement, both heads were turned to Takuya Kanabara, who smirked.

Izumi instinctively prepeared to yell at him, but was stopped short by Kouji. he narrowed his eyes, and gestured to a moving shadow that did not belong to any one of the bandits, or them.

Mujin noticed it too, because he backed away from Junpei, and sniffed the cold air.

"What? What's wrong Mujin?" demanded Rambashi, glaring squarely at his comerade. The wolflike man just glared at the shadow and muttered something under his breath. "we have an intruder."

"Did you hear that, guys? Someone's gonna save us!" squealed Tommy, who was obviously excited. Takuya nodded encouragingly, while Izumi just smiled in a strained sort of way. Kouji kept silent.

The shadow moved swiftly and nimbly from step to step, from rock to rock. It rapelled skillfully down the great wall, making its way stealthily to the Bandits' campout. Enraged, Rambashi stood up, and immediately sent several of his men to go and investigate. 

A few tense moments of silence followed, revealing nothing but even more silence. Junpei shifted uneasily. Then, a few shouts and some scuffling heard, along with some incessant chatter.

Izumi's head jerked up at this, because it sounded quite familiar…

"AAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYEEEEEE!!!!"

And before anyone knew it, something old and bony leaped down from the wall, yelling battle cries and obscenities as it went. The person was dressed in a ninja suit, and had two sharp knives in his/her hands. "Die you worthless pieces of flesh!" a shrill voicec echoed into the night sky. Tommy sat up rigidly. That was a woman's voice.

In response, about ten to fifteen other voices sounded, some gravelly, some squeaky, and some that sounded like a bullfrog's croak. But what mattered is that they were going to be saved…saved at long last!

Takuya watched in amazement, as people suddenly leaped down from the walls, brandishing all sorts of weapons. There was even one with a frying pan.

Rambashi the bandit was now standing up, trying to draw himself to full height. The short, fat man's face was crimson with anger, and his voice was indignant. 

"How dare you—who are you people to invade my camp?" he pointed a chubby finger at the first ninja-suited person. The woman.

"well, SPEAK!!!!"

the ninja-lady just ripped of her mask in reply.

AUDIENCE: gasp

Junpei's eyes bugged out. Tommy looked like he was going to cry. Takuya didn't want to laugh. And Izumi tried to repress some four-lettered words. Kouji just rolled his eyes.

"Hey…isn't that Henry's grandma?" Tommy was the first to speak, pointing out the elderly woman.

"Yeah." Sighed Takuya, sweatdropping. Mei-li smiled and waved to them. Izumi was the only one who waved back. Seeing that the other's didn't, the group's only female hissed at them. "come on, you guys! Show some respect here!" she muttered, through clenched teeth.

Kouji sighed. "Izumi…we're tied up by a bunch of weirdos, cold, hungry, and desolate. We've been here for a while, and our only from of rescue is someone's grandma. You expect us to wave back?" the ice was evident in his voice. The girl rolled her eyes. "Tommy?" she asked.

Tommy sighed, and waved to Mei-Li, who nodded in approval. The old lady then turned her attention to Rambashi.

"give us the children." She stated.

Rambashi trued hard not to laugh.

"What if we don't want you?" he sneered.

Mei-Li remained calm. "Then we will make you."

Rambashi snorted. "You and what army?"

Suddenly, another one of the ninjas ripped off their mask. It was Guo Chu, president of the Chinese Elders Club.

"I will help rescue the children." He said.

One by one, all the ninjas ripped off their masks, revealing the senior citizens living in the Wongs' neighborhood.

"I will rescue the children"

"I shall rescue them."

"I will help Mei-Li rescue the children."

"me too!"

"Amen, brother!"

They all thought that they were going to die of embarassment.

"Now I know how Izumi felt when she sat on bubblegum in Math class…" Takuya muttered, pulling his hat down.

"Takuya!" she scolded, glaring at him. the goggle-head just sat back and whistled, ignoring her.

"shhh…" said Tommy. "Rambashi's talking!"

indeed, the fat bandit leader was. He laughed, bellowing into the night sky.

"hah…haha…hahaha…MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHIHIHIHIHIHI…BRUWHAHAHAHA!!!" when he was finished laughing himself senseless, the man turned to Mei-Li.

"why don't we wait a few mintues, to see who's going to die of old age first, huh? Hahahahahahahahahahaaaa!!!" Rambashi rolled on the floor, laughing, unaware of the angered looks growing on the senior citizens' faces.

"Uhhh…boss?" said one of the bandits. Rambashi shot him a sharp glance. "What? Don't tell me your afraid of them?"

the man just pointed to Mei-Li…

the old woman towered behid Rambashi, giving the small man the best death glare that she could muster. She held up her knives.

"Your end is near, mongolian." She whispered.

-the battle scene was deleted, due to extreme violence, and grgannies beating up full-grown men. We apologize for the inconvenience.-

"I think I could make a movie out of this" said Izumi. "How about 'My grandmother's a ninja?'" offered Tommy, engrossed in the battle of sorts, taking place in between the bandits and the old people.

"Yeah…that would definitely sell…" said Kouji.

presently, one of the old dudes came up, and used his butcher's knife to cut through the ropes that bound them.

"woohooo!!! We're free!!!" exuberated Junpei, rubbing his wrists.

"Yeah" agreed Izumi, tugging at her wrist, which was still attached by the cloth snake to Kouji's.

Takuya's face suddenly lit up with opportunity. "hey! Let's ask the old guy to slash the snake-thingy!"

He tapped the man on his shoulder, and gestured to the snake. The guy nodded, drawing his blade. The stainless steel flashed in the firelight, as mr. Chang brought it down on the snake. Kouji almost wished that it wouldn't work…

"Bounce!"

ach. Even a butcher's knife wouldn't cut through it. What now? "Hey, maybe we could use Takuya's head! It's pretty hard, isn't it?" piped up Tommy.

Takuya just glared at him. "What do you mean by that?" he asked. The younger boy just shrugged. "You're a smart boy…I think you already know." He replied.

"Why you little—" Takuya began to chase Tommy, but was stopped short by Kouji. the goggle-head struggled against kouji's grasp, but it was no use. "Let him go. We have to get out of here." Said the boy.

Izumi tugged at Kouji's sleeve. "let's go!" Kouji nodded, and squeezed her hand. Izumi looked bewildered at this, but she didn't pull away. While the senior citizens distracted the bandits, the teenagers made a hasty getaway, grabbing several ropes that hung conveniently from the wall.

"up!"

Kouji couldn't climb properly, due to the snake that bound Izumi and himself. he looked down at her, struggling to climb the rope. He sighed. The voice in his head scolded him again. 'kouji! you're going to regret this! You are, I'm telling you!!!' and oh boy, Kouji knew that the voice was right. 'for once, you're correct.' He replied mentally, preparing himself for what he was going to do.

"Izumi."

She looked up at the person who had called her name. 

"yeah?"

"here. We can't climb it, because of the snake." Kouji held out a hand for her.

Izumi frowned.

"but how will holding you hand help?" she asked.

Kouji sighed. Yup, his plan was easier said than done.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAIIYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!"

They both looked up in surprise, as an old lady battered Mujin with her burger flipper.

"Quick! The bandits might catch us!" he warned, holding out his hand.

"But I just don't get it…" mused Izumi, before she was roughly pulled to Kouji's'side.

"wha--?" the surprised girl was slienced, and a visible blush was creeping up her face.

"Kouji---"

"shh. Hold on to my back." He ordered, taking a firm hold onto the rope.

Izumi nodded, shakily putting her hand on his shoulder. The other one lay clasped in one of his own, attached by the cloth snake.

"tight." He added.

Izumi just nodded.

Slowly, steadily, they made their way up the rope, dangling dangerously above the ground. Takuya, Tommy, and Junpei were halfway up already. Izumi gripped Kouji's shoulders tightly, leaning her head against his back. The boy stiffened at this.

"come on." He whispered. "we're almost there."

Artemis: yes! Yes! I'm done! Yay! No…not with the fic…just chapter seven. Anyway, I think you all know that this is nearing the end, but one question still remains…WILL THEY EVER GET THE SNAKE OFF? Chapter eight will come when it can! And as for the long waiting period…welll, sorry. I had other things to do.

Skadi: grrrrmmmm…

Artemis: come on, Skadi. We still have about two chapters to go!…you can't let your morale down, y'know.

Skadi: artemis, my morale has been down ever since you asked me to edit this thing. I'm the moody, depressed, angsty sort of person remember? SMILING IS NOT A HABIT!!!!

Artemis: okay, okay…[sweatdrops] someone's in a bad mood today. Oh well. To you guys… I'd like to announce that I'm changing my penname to Carbonated Armadillo, angel, author, or anything that starts with the letter 'A'…except Artemis. As for the sequel…I think I'm dumping it, unless one of you guys have the kindness to co-author it. That's it for now. See ya next chappie!


	8. The Aftermath

**New Year Tricks**

**[chapter eight]**

Author's note: yes, you all want to kill me with various weapons of mass destruction. That much, I know. Sorry for the late update! Many things have happened during my period of absence. The rest of the story will be left up to Skadi. –Artemis

* * *

_Yes! There it was! The end of the wall! The end of the adventure! The end of all this rotten manure of a vacation! FREEEEEEEEDOM!!!!!!!!!!_

Those were the only thoughts in Kouji Minamoto's mind, as he grappled up the rope, towards the top portion of the Great Wall of China.

How he had ended up in this rotten mess was beyond him, but all that Kouji knew was that it was the merchant's fault, and Hannah's.

The boy grunted, his breaths laboured, as he climbed up the rough fibres entwined into each other. On his back was his friend, and potential crush (yes: CRUSH!!!) Izumi Orimoto.

Recently, the girl had been clutching onto Kouji's arm, blocking off all circulation. Her eyes were slammed shut. There was something wrong with Izumi, at the moment. She was afraid. What? Afraid? Her? The spunky supergirl of Digimon Frontier? Yeah right!

The girl whimpered slightly, as she dug her head into the back of Kouji's black windbreaker, hoping that it would all be over.

Fear of heights, that was what it was called. Something-phobia.

A light breeze swept across their faces, as the rest of China slept peacefully, without having to worry about bandit kidnappers, or bloodthirsty senior citizens.

Ah, well, that's what you get for being a fourteen-year old with a bunch of weird friends that talk too much. Kouji grunted and looked up, spotting a hand reaching out to him, over the edge of the wall. It belonged to Henry. The boy could hear the man's voice. It was urgent, curt.

"Come on, Kouji! The elders won't last much longer!" he yelled, over the howl of the oncoming gusts of wind.

The loner boy nodded, even though Henry couldn't see him. It was difficult to hasten his pace, with a girl's weight dragging him down. Kouji's eyes landed momentarily on the cloth snake that bound them both. He glared at it menacingly.

That was the start of all their troubles. Stupid snake.

He snapped his attention back to the task at hand. From the noises above, Kouji concluded that Takuya and Junpei had succeeded in climbing up the wall. Only Tommy was lagging behind. The boy loosened his grip on the rope, as he reached out with his free hand, towards the stone edge of the ancient landmark. His skin grazed a coarse, rough surface, with several lines and notches cut into it.

Kouji smiled ironically. Even the Great Wall was not immune to Chinese graffiti.

With all the strength that he could muster, the boy grasped Henry's outstretched arm, and tried to hoist himself, and Izumi, over the edge of the wall. Luckily, the eldest Wong sibling provided ample supervision, and the two were helped to safety in no time.

Exhausted, tired, and chilled to the bone, Kouji could not find anything better to do, than to collapse onto the bare ground, and gasp for air. He did just that, without noticing that there was something tied to his arm, by a certain devious curse.

Kouji took several deep breaths, with his eyes closed. The feel of hard, solid ground was welcoming, to a person who had been forced to climb thirty feet with the weight of two people on his back. The boy's eyes flickered open. He felt something warm on his chest. Kouji blinked, and tried to sit up. He only got halfway. There was Izumi, her hat fallen off, her golden hair splashed across him. Her hand was still gripping his, almost blocking off circulation. The girl was sprawled out on his chest. Her eyes were closed, and her breathing steady.

Kouji stiffened.

She was asleep.

'Thank God.'

Izumi was asleep?

Yeah right.

[insert evil grin here]

That was what he thought.

In fact, she was half-asleep. Part of her consciousness had drifted away into dreamland, but the other part was wide awake.

In case you wonderful readers were...uh...wondering, this was what was going on in our brilliant little Izumi's brain, right at this moment, HERE IT IS!!!

She smiled in her false sleep, feeling the calmed rhythm of his heart. There was nothing that she'd trade this moment for, ever. Not even if she was exhausted, tired, cranky, and had a terrible backache. Actually, all that mattered now was that she was safe and sound, her hair wasn't getting any split ends, and that she was with Kouji.

The insane, more maniacal side of her began to yap a little bit louder, earning some good standing in Izumi's field of thought.

_[inner Izumi] : Yeah! YOU GO GIRL! Finally! After years and years of chasing that cold-hearted icicle, IZUMI ORIMOTO HAS GOT HER MAN!! Mwahahahahahahahaaa!!!_

What more could she possibly ask for?

"Wow, didn't know they were _that_ close." Deadpanned Takuya, letting out a yawn.

Izumi's fist tightened, and a vein pulsed somewhere in her forehead. The cocky leader of their little group gulped, and backed away.

'Now if only that goggle-head would shut up for once...' the Italian thought disdainfully.

Kouji rubbed his eyes, and heard someone suggest that they head back for the comforting hospitality of the Wong residence. It turned out that Alice had phoned the police, and the kidnappers were on their way to that little, lonely space behind cold, metal bars. Now what was it called, again? Oh yeah...JAIL.

Tommy did a little victory dance, despite the fact that the boy was extremely tired, right about now. He sighed, as Junpei chuckled, and picked the 'little guy' up, piggy-back style. Tommy was asleep in no time.

The older boy smiled to himself. 'I wonder what it would be like, to have a little brother.' He mused.

"Damn it, lets get out of here before I drop dead." Grumbled Kouji, as Henry helped him up. The older man couldn't help but smile.

"You know, you remind me of someone." He said. Henry smiled lightly, with memories of the socially elusive Rika Nonaka, now Rika Akiyama, resurfacing in his mind.

Wildcat and Lone wolf. What uncanny similarities, indeed.

The raven-haired loner had to cock a curious brow at this comment, but instead, chose not to say anything.

"Come on, lets get into the car." Said Henry. "You guys must've had a loooong day." He added.

Takuya could only smile weakly. "You can say that again."

Nodding, the rest of them readily complied to the prospect of riding in Henry Wong's safe, bandit-free, air-conditioned car; a stark contrast to the hard, lumpy piece of ground that they had been forced to sit on, watching maniac kidnappers plot to sell them illegally.

Opening the car door to his black Honda, Henry cast a tired smile at the teenagers.

"Alice is at the house right now. She's coming back with my cousin's SUV. I can take three people right about now." He said, looking at the five.

Takuya nodded absently, his mind drifting off to a space in the clouds. This whole vacation had a purpose: to get that damned cloth snake off those two hopeless friends of his, who, by the looks of it, were falling for each other right about now. Instead, they wound up wrestling toddlers, him getting splashed by mud [not to mention a confrontation with his crush's possible boyfriend], and getting kidnapped at the great wall, by insane, tobacco-obsessed freaks, only to be rescued a few hours later by senior citizens, carrying cooking pots for weapons!!!

If ever the world would have spun off its axis, right now was certainly a good time for it to do so.

'Not that it would make much of a difference...' thought Takuya.

Henry's voice broke through his train of thought, a few minutes later.

"So...which ones are going to ride with me?" the man questioned.

Uncertainly, the five Frontier kids looked at each other. Tommy was asleep, his head resting on Junpei's shoulder, Takuya looked awake enough, and Kouji was just there, grumbling like the natural pessimist he was. Izumi was also asleep, or half-asleep, for that matter, resting on Kouji. The latter didn't have the energy to blush, anymore.

"Well..." began Takuya, his hand flying up to his cap. "I guess I can stay..."

"Me too." Put in Junpei.

Henry cocked a brow.

"Are you sure? It can get kind of chilly out here, especially at this hour." Stated Terriermon's trainer.

As if to respond to Henry, a cold wind blew strong, causing everybody to pull their windbreakers a little bit closer to themselves. The uncertainty grew stronger.

But then, a voice rang out, in the distance.

"Takuya!"

Hearing that familiar tone, the goggle-head's eyes widened, as he spotted the lithe figure of Kirschey, getting out of a nearby cab. Her stark blue eyes were filled with relief, although the raven-haired girl looked sort of drained.

She ran towards him.

Not them, Takuya noticed happily, but him.

Him.

"Takuya! Guys! Thank kami-sama you're safe!" she rejoiced, hugging the brown-haired boy, first.

"Kirsch, since when did you get to China?" after recovering from the heated blush that covered his cheeks, Takuya asked the most sensible question at the moment.

"Well, I caught the pla—"

"So, you guys coming, or not?" Henry's call for verification interrupted Kirschey's explanation. [ooh! Rhyme!]

"Um...well..." Takuya looked at his shoes. He had a choice. Go on this trip, and get to comfort, warmth, and hospitality...or stay here for a while, and ride with Alice. But the latter choice meant that he cloud spend a little more time with the girl of his dreams...possibly, even ask her about that obnoxious jerk that had bumped into him, the morning before.

"He's staying. And I am, too." Stated Junpei bluntly. Inwardly, the fat one grinned. He knew well of Takuya's unrequited affection for Henry's niece.

"I guess...that leaves Kouji, Izumi, and Tommy." Said Henry, glancing at the aforementioned three.

Kouji nodded silently, as he always did. Shaking Izumi awake, gently, the boy smiled at her.

Blinking, the girl's green eyes fluttered open, just in time to see her friend's lips curl up in a warm smile. Izumi blinked again.

Wow. It was extremely rare for Kouji the ice cube to smile, to the point that when he actually did smile, it came out sort of unnatural.

The blonde squeezed his hand, still clasped about her own.

"Are we going yet?"

Kouji nodded, looking away. "Yeah, we're going." He finished.

Henry did nothing but put his hands on his hips, and look at them with interest.

"Well, you guys are an interesting bunch, indeed. Now, if you wouldn't mind, Kouji, Izumi...Tommy...let's get going."

Nodding, the boy helped Izumi up, while Junpei carried Tommy to the car, letting him off gently. When all was right and done with, Henry Wong got in the driver's seat, plugged the keys into the ignition, and stepped on the gas.

The black vehicle drove away, leaving a faint trail of exhaust. Still standing at the wall, Takuya, Kirschey, and Junpei looked after the shrinking form of the little black car, disappearing on the horizon.

After a few minutes of silence, the girl was the first to speak.

"So...you guys saw Grandma Mei Li in action?"

A grin formed on Takuya's face. "Yeah...I guess you could say that..."

* * *

"AHA! DRAW FOUR! Take that, Kouichi!" Said Hannah triumphantly, slamming down the multicoloured Uno card down, on the ever-growing pile in between her and Kouji's twin.

In response, Kouichi grumbled at his rotten luck, as well as his friend's strange, competitive attitude. He was absolutely sure that Hannah didn't do alcohol, but now...he wasn't so sure anymore...

"What have you been drinking?" he asked sarcastically, putting his own card down on the deck.

"Why?" questioned the girl, putting a draw-two card down.

"Because. I think it's getting to your brain. Or is that just your natural abnormality?"

"shut up, you!"

Playfully, the short-haired brunette whacked Kouichi upside the head.

"OW! What was that for?"

"For being your usual egotistic self."

* * *

"Humph."

NOTE: I am SORRY! I have a bunch of excuses for the tardy update, but I don't know if you guys want to hear them...here goes anyway...

1] I have been to China, so I know what's what, and the stuff going on at the Great Wall, Beijing, Shanghai, and all those other places.

2] My computer crashed. Its sort of sad, but at least there are no more viruses, now.

3] Busy working on other stories! Sorry, but I sort of decided to leave this fic on hold for some time.

4] I will be posting another one-shot Kozumi shortly after this. A peace offering to you readers. It is going to be a songfic. Watch out!

Yep...as usual, a review is highly appreciated. Constructive or otherwise, but please, not a flame. :)

R&R!

Artemis


	9. A Solution, A Debt

**New Year Tricks**

**Chapter nine**

Kouji looked down at the porcelain cup he was holding. It was painted white, and was warm to touch. Inside, was Mrs. Wong's steaming jasmine tea. He brought the cup to his lips.

Mmmm...that was good.

Letting out a contented sigh, the boy laid back, unusually calm. From where he sat on the squishy green couch, Kouji could hear the soft pitter-pat of the raindrops, landing on the rooftop of the Wong residence.

Gusts of refreshing wind blew in from the half-open windows, as Sun-Li, the errand girl, brought in another six servings of tea.

The raven-haired boy closed his eyes for a moment. Without opening them, he could tell who was seated where, in the living room, and what that person was doing.

To his right sat Izumi, their hands still bound, of course. The blonde girl was talking happily to Alice Wong, the goth-like wife of Terriermon's Chinese Tamer. The woman was telling Izumi about the "old days," when a mere handful of children rescued the suburbs of Tokyo, from a terrible monstrosity called D-Reaper.

Kouji sighed. It might not have been evident, but he had managed to read about that from before. D-Reaper, Takato Matsuda, and a brown-haired girl named Jeri. It all seemed so ridiculous, like a fairy tale cooked up in a far-off land.

But still, his own escapades as Lobomon, with the others, in the Digiworld could seem just as unreal to anyone else.

"Hey! That's my dumpling!" a loud and irked voice protested.

"No way! I saw it first!" another obnoxious tone shot back.

"Oomph!"

"Argh!"

Sounds of a scuffle over the delicious shrimp dumplings made it obvious that Junpei and Takuya were, once again, fighting over the food. Kouji rolled his eyes inwardly. Those two would never cease to be morons.

"Cut it out, you guys!" Izumi's bossy attitude was kicking into gear.

"Look at the mess you're making on the rug!"

Kouji's eyes shot open. This, he had to see.

Takuya was on the floor, his stomach pressing flat against the rug. Junpei was sitting on his back, twisting his leg. Both held on to the last shrimp dumpling, which looked like it was going to explode in a burst of seafood and bread-like material.

Kouji sensed that something was wrong. Usually, when the stakes involved food, even Tommy would try and stake his claim on whatever was being fought over. Kouji blinked. Only the younger boy wasn't there.

He thought of asking Izumi about it, but thought better of it, and kept his mouth shut.

The boy's doubts were washed away, however, when Tommy skidded into the living room, carrying a pair of chopsticks, ready to strike.

"AHA!"

In one swift movement that would rival a ninja's grace, the eleven-year old snatched the dumpling from both the grips of Junpei and Takuya.

"Gulp!" Tommy rubbed his stomach triumphantly, as he flashed a victory smile.

"Thief." Muttered Junpei, under his breath.

"Brat." Added Takuya, seething.

Kouji shrugged, and said something that he probably shouldn't have said.

"Well, at least it shut you people up."

Glaring at him, Junpei's eyes were red with fury. They practically read 'Shrimp dumpling'. Knowing not to interfere with an angry Beetlemon, Izumi inched away from Kouji, as far as the cloth snake would permit.

The guy's face remained unemotional, as he stared up at the fat one, challenging him to go on ahead and try...juuust try...

As Junpei was about to tackle Kouji like a Sumo wrestler would tackle a decorative plant, the loner vanished from the couch in a matter of seconds.

Junpei went white with shock.

"WHAT THE—"

"THOU SHALT BE PURIFIED, WITH HOLY LIGHT!"

Kouji had summoned his attack, and would have blown Junpei to bits, until he realized three things.

One: He didn't have his digivice.

Two: He hadn't digivolved into Lobomon.

Three: Shouting attack phrases in the middle of a living room make you look like a complete idiot.

Everything was silent at the moment, as Takuya tried to hold in his laughter. Izumi, uncomfortable with having her hand jerked in the air, as Kouji went into Digimon-mode, just glowered at her friend miserably.

It was Tommy who first broke the silence.

"Well, that was embarrassing."

---------------------------------------------

"Kouji—"

"No."

"Oh come on..."

"No."

"Please?"

A frustrated sigh.

"Pretty pretty pleeeeeaaaaaaase, with sugar, strawberries, and maple syrup on top?"

Agitated now, Kouji shot a warning glance at the girl.

"Izumi I told you, I can't..."

"Aww, but Kouji! You said!!"

Fifteen minutes later...

"See, isn't this fun?"

"..."

"Don't give me that, you icicle."

"..."

"KOUJI!"

"What? I didn't say anything, did I?"

"Humph. You're hopeless."

"You're annoying."

"And you think you aren't?"

"This isn't exactly what I would call 'fun'."

Izumi waved her hand in the air, as if dismissing Kouji's complaints. She smiled at him, causing the loner to freeze for a nanosecond.

Poking him playfully in the ribs, the blonde jested him on.

"It's our last day in Beijing! Besides, everybody needs a little shopping once in a while!"

"Didn't you do any shopping at the Great Wall? Before we were kidnapped?"

"Yeah...but I NEED MORE!"

Laughing, Izumi smiled, and would have put thrown her arms in the air, dancing around, if she were not stuck to Kouji by that dratted snake.

Kouji sighed, and tugged at his bandanna, like always. There were a lot of things in this world that he didn't approve of, and shopping with Izumi was one of them. She was dragging him along now, but naturally, the boy didn't really have a choice.

The cloth snake, remember?

The loner grumbled at his unfortunate luck. Izumi was too preoccupied to notice. As the two walked along the sidewalks, nearing the Hong Xian pearl market, two things happened.

A gust of strong wind blew at the both of them. The girl tried to push away all the hair that was getting in her face, and the boy just blinked, to avoid the stinging sensation that the cold wind brought to his eyes.

Another thing, was that a strange looking old man appeared out of nowhere, seeming to be carried by the frosty breeze. He had a long, almost white beard, which looked like it was combed to straight perfection. Twinkling, humorous eyes looked upon Kouji and Izumi with amusement, as well as satisfaction.

With a sweep of his long crimson robe, the elderly man began to walk towards them both.

Izumi blinked at him for a few seconds. A glint of recognition flashed in her green eyes, as she realized that he was...

Wait a minute! STOP!! Her mind screamed. STOP RIGHT THERE!! That guy's the Chinese Merchant?

As if reading her mind, the old man stopped in his tracks. He looked at Izumi, and his lopsided smile grew.

As the Italian girl looked at him with pained confusion, Kouji, on the other hand was getting very, very annoyed. Well, he was annoyed most of the time, but never as much as this. The loner was about to say something rude, but Izumi beat him to it.

"Who the heck are YOU?"

Kouji raised a brow, and looked at Izumi. The Chinese man grinned some more, like some retarded idiot. Then, he got all wise and calm, like most wizened old men usually were.

"Don't you remember me, Miss Orimoto?" His tone was clear and concise, as was his English. To a normal person, it would have sounded like the old man was trying to hold back laughter. A lot of laughter.

"Hey! PEOPLE!"

"Izumiiii!!!"

"(pant) Takuya! Wait up!"

"Oh look! Candied strawberries!"

Just then, five people came running towards Kouji, Izumi, and the Chinese guy. Of course, as you may have already guessed, they were none other than Takuya, Junpei, Tommy and Kirschey.

Upon seeing them, Kouji did a double-take.

'Wait. Who are those two other freaks?'

"OOHH DEAARR BROOTHER!"

"Aha! I told you that snake would still be there! Face it Kouichi, you owe me three thousand yen!"

Oh no. No, no, no...why did they have to be here?

Looking away from them as inconspicuously as possible, Kouji tried to ignore the irritating presences of those two maniacs, Kouichi and Hannah. Well, maybe his twin wasn't THAT much of a maniac, but then Hannah most certainly was. Eech. The photographer from hell.

Izumi, of course, wasn't paying as much attention to Kouji, as to the newcomers. First of all, she was delighted to see Kouichi and Hannah there, although the blonde had no idea whatsoever as to how they had gotten to China.

'Maybe they grew sick of playing UNO...'

"Hey, guys!"

Reaching the two, the teenagers stopped, and caught their breath. Hannah was the first to speak, as was usually the case.

"Hey, aren't you the merchant dude?"

The old man didn't care who asked the question anymore; he was just glad that one of those brats had actually paid attention to him, this time around. Clearing his throat, the merchant replied cordially.

"Yes, Miss Kamei, in fact, I am."

Silence.

The merchant blinked. All the people were staring at him now, especially that goggle-head.

"You are?"

"Yes."

Tommy interrupted. "Great! Now you can get that thing of Kouji and Izumi!"

Upon hearing this, the two mentioned people looked up at the old man expectantly. Kouji looked hopeful, and Izumi's expression brightened.

The merchant shook his head.

"Sorry, no can do."

Silence.

"What? What do you mean?" This time, it was Kouichi's turn to complain.

Kouji on the other hand, felt like he was going to explode.

"WHAT?! WHAT DO YOU MEAN NO CAN DO?!?"

In a few seconds, the boy would have pounced on the old man, and punched the living daylights out of him, had not the cloth snake been there to restrain him.

"Calm down, Kouj!" said Izumi, holding his arm, strangely enough, the loner did calm down.

The old man sighed. Takuya glared at him, and so did Junpei. He looked at them, and blinked.

"What?"

Silence. More cold glares.

He sighed again.

"Okay, FINE. I'll take it off...in exchange for one thing."

Izumi looked up. "What?"

"Only one thing." The man continued, looking pointedly at Kouji and Izumi. "If you two agree to do it."

"To take this thing off?" asked Kouji. "Anything!"

"Okay then..." said the merchant slowly. "I want...you both to kiss."

More silence. Kouji's mouth hung slightly open, and Izumi looked at the old man as if his hand had mutated into another head, and talked. The others kept quiet as well, but Hannah did not.

"Say...that IS a reasonable bargain..."

Kouji shot a venomous glare at the girl, but he kept his mouth shut. If the loner said anything right now, all hell would break lose. Besides, he had Kouichi to answer to.

No one said anything for a while, and the old man thought that he would lower the price...

(Artemis: No! Hell no! lower the price and die, you old freak! Gosh! I've been waiting for this moment for so long, now! Kiss, dammit! KISS!!!)

"Well..." he began. "If that's the case...all my work has been in vain."

At this, all the people looked up.

"Your work?" asked Tommy. "What do you mean?" But the merchant didn't answer. Instead, he walked towards the two, and placed one hand on the snake.

Inner thoughts 

Kouji- YES! Finally! That eevil merchant's going to take it off...freeeeeeeedom...

Izumi-Yes! Finally! No more being chained to that antisocial poker-face! Freeeeeeeeeeeeedom....

Kouji/Izumi- But it was fun while it lasted. Izumi/Kouji isn't really that bad...WAIT! WHAT AM I THINKING!? Oh well...

-end- 

The merchant began to feel the snake, around its green scaly body, as if looking for something. Then, he found the right pressure point. Jabbing his thumb into the thick mass of elastic cloth, the snake fell limp.

Instantly, the two wrists that were once bound together were now separated, their owners relieved, and all the chaos cleared.

But if there were two happy people, there were also some disappointed individuals, who had been looking forward to seeing Kouji and Izumi kiss. Namely, Takuya, Junpei, Tommy, Kouichi, Hannah, and Kirschey. Oh yeah, the Chinese dude, too. But hey, not all clouds have silver lining...and neither do all cakes have icing...

At this, Kouji had to smile. For once, life had been good. Very good, indeed. He didn't have to humiliate himself in front of his friends, and Izumi, to get rid of the snake. The old guy didn't see them kiss, and even though Kouji really really liked Izumi, he didn't have to admit it, and would probably tell her some time during the next ten years. Who knows?

Izumi was happy as well. What girl wouldn't be? After a few horrid days of Kouji-attachment, it would be safe to say that relief coursed through her veins as well. Smiling at Kouji, the blonde could not help but notice her heart skip a beat, upon meeting his gaze.

And as always, the Chinese merchant had to ruin everything...

Winking at Kouji and Izumi, the old man smiled.

"Remember, you two are indebted to me. A kiss for freedom, love, for a snake."

Those were his parting words, because at the next moment, a man in his early thirties came running out of the crowd, yelling something unintelligible. He pointed frantically at the merchant, whose eyes widened in fear.

"You cheated that guy too?" asked Hannah, folding her arms.

"Heh...no, that's my grandson." Was the old man's hurried reply. Gathering the folds of his red robe, the merchant made a hasty exit, with his alarmed grandson nipping at his heels.

The teenagers were left there. They were quiet for a few seconds, but broke into grins, smiling at each other. Even Kouji had something to be thankful for. Kirschey laughed softly, and Takuya slung an arm around her shoulder, his goofy smile growing a bit wider. Tommy handed Hannah her digicam, still in one piece, and the girl snapped a photo of them all.

Junpei was cheerful as usual, on the way back, even buying Tommy a stick of candied strawberries. Izumi smiled all the way, unaware that she was inciting several unusual sensations, on the part of a certain Kouji Minamoto.

Laughing, the group made their way to the Wong residence, where they were greeted with more green tea, as well as rest and relaxation, for the next adventure to come their way.

----------------------------------------------

Hey guys...that was certainly a long one...or was it? Hmmm...anyways, we all know that the story is coming to an end. BUT WAIT! This isn't the end...I shall be posting an epilogue, or a follow-up chapter. There, Kouji and Izumi will be PAYING the merchant back, if you know what I mean...XD To all the reviewers, I LOVE YOU GUYS! (hugs people) Thank yu very much for staying with me through all my insanely late updates, and such. YOU ROCK!!!! MWAH!

Please review this one! Hehe...

Artemis


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